


The Stars Are Not Aligned

by Anonymous



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Minor Character Death, Post-Order 66, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:53:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Ahsoka and Maul encounter/think about each other sporadically in the years between the Siege of Mandalore and Malachor.Yes, they hook up eventually.No, things don’t end happily ever after.
Relationships: Darth Maul & Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 13
Kudos: 51
Collections: Anonymous





	1. 19 BBY Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> -I’ve never posted my own fic before, and I don’t have much practice at writing fic at all, so be warned.  
> -Chapters will vary widely in length, because each chapter is, loosely, one encounter or reminiscence at a certain point in time. Some are a couple hundred words; some are closer to 9k.   
> -I’ve mostly tried to stick to canon and write around it. It’s been a while since I’ve read Ahsoka by EK Johnston though, so what I’ve written almost certainly contradicts the setup, events, and timeline of the novel. In this universe, I’d say the book takes place in 17 BBY instead of 18 BBY.   
> \- I’m much more of an Ahsoka stan than a fan of Maul, so I know much less about Maul’s backstory. Nearly all of this fic is written from Ahsoka’s perspective.  
> -You can age up Ahsoka in your mind as you read this story or not, I don’t care. I don’t think her age really matters to this story.   
> -The hookup chapter is not explicit, but I’ve made it pretty clear what’s going on, so that’s where the M rating comes in. Technically that takes place when Ahsoka is in her 20s, so I’m not going to tag this fic as underage.  
> -End notes will contain extra warnings, if chapters contain them. Note that Ahsoka is grieving for much of the fic, particularly in the beginning, since this is post Order-66. Feel free to let me know if I’ve missed any warning tags so I can add them.  
> -Hope you enjoy!

Ahsoka stepped back to survey the damage and made a face, rubbing her eyes. After nearly crashing her airspeeder into a wall while half asleep, thanks to the usual nightmares, the vehicle was…well, the left light on the front was smushed inwards, the entire left side of the speeder was severely dented and scraped, and the engine was still smoking slightly. Not good. Was it fixable? It would have to be. She and Rex couldn’t afford to buy another one right now, and he had just left the hanger bay to search for some cheap food to purchase. Sighing, Ahsoka ducked down to reach into the front compartment for the repair tools. But before she could begin working on the speeder, she felt…something. Something was wrong. She looked around, her alarm spiking, and her eyes fell on a familiar, detestable face.

Maul.

In the same moment, he saw her as well, and his eyes widened.

Ahsoka’s hands went straight to her hips, where she would normally keep her lightsabers, but—no. She had given those up. The movement was not lost upon Maul, who smirked slightly as he approached, leaving behind the two elegantly dressed blue humanoid figures he had been speaking with. Somehow, he had already a new lightsaber, clipped to his belt.

Ok, really not good. Fine, she would fight another way. Ahsoka glanced around--the blue humanoids were also armed, and the hanger bay guards were nowhere to be found. She leapt behind durasteel boxes stacked nearby, ready to launch them at the zabrak once he was close enough. He could easily slice them to ribbons, but maybe it would buy her some time.

But Maul made no move to retrieve his blade, keeping his hands behind his back as he said, once he was within earshot, “Ahsoka Tano. This is a surprise.”

Ahsoka crouched slightly and stretched her hands out in front of her, preparing to shove the boxes into his red, spiky face. Just like he had done to her the last time they saw each other a few months ago. “I have nothing to say to you, Maul.”

“Really? No words to trade about turning me into the empire, about justice, about how I’m a scourge upon the galaxy that you intend to eradicate?”

She scanned the hanger bay again, not bothering to respond. Where was Rex? There was no way she could escape on her own speeder. Was there another one nearby that she might be able to use? Things might be fine if she could just get away.

Maul hummed, in a mockery of sympathy. “How the mighty have fallen.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do? Wage wars, massacre innocents, maybe kick a small tooka-cat while you’re at it?”

Unexpectedly, he gave a short laugh. “I’ve never kicked a small tooka-cat.”

“A small child then.”

“He got what was coming to him.”

“It’s all about revenge for you, isn’t it?”

“Well, at least I have goals.”

“Am I one of them? Are you here to kill me?” Or was he just going to stand there and bother her?

“Hm, I haven’t ruled it out.”

That was more like it. Unfortunately, all other speeders were too far away for her to make a quick getaway. Ahsoka was outnumbered, weaponless, and exhausted in all senses of the word. She changed tact. “I don’t suppose it would sway you if I said that I’m the reason you’re alive? You owe me, Maul.”

“Ha! You freed me, true, but left me with no way to defend myself against the clones, and the very last time we were this close, you attempted to behead me.”

Oh well, that probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. She resumed her fighter stance and flexed her fingers again. “You seem to have made it out just fine.”

“As I recall, you said that Kenobi—” Maul’s voice changed to a snarl at the name, “—said I was difficult to kill? He was right.”

_Was_. Ahsoka suddenly rememberd the last time she talked to Obi-Wan, on Mandalore. The last time she saw Anakin, surrounded by clones. All gone now. Before she could stop herself, her eyes welled up, blurring her vision. So many times she had reached out to Anakin through the Force, just in case she could sense him one more time, and each time she had come up empty.

Every time she thought she had cried herself out over the past four months, she had been wrong. Stars, she missed him, Obi-Wan, Plo Koon, even Master Windu, so much that it ached.

But now would be an exceptionally bad time to lose it. Ahsoka blinked, and saw that Maul had clearly noticed her moment of sorrow, though his expression had stayed neutral.

Infuriated, she swiped a hand across her eyes and began levitating a hefty box. “Our positions are reversed now. You’re the one with the lightsaber, and I just have these boxes. So, come on!”

For a moment, he continued to merely stand there, and then he moved. Ahsoka brought her arm back, ready to propel the box straight into his face, but the zabrak had only turned around and was already walking away. He looked over his shoulder at her, and then said, his voice a taunt, “Live well, Ahsoka Tano.”

When Rex returned, Ahsoka had successfully repaired the engine and had moved on to the light. There were fresh tear tracts running down her face.


	2. 19 BBY Part 2

When she and Rex left to go their separate ways, seven months after the Jedi Purge, both knew it was the safer choice. Rex had decided to look for any of his clone trooper brothers who might have also had their chips removed, and he would be heading closer into Empire territory to find them. He would be much less recognizable than Ahsoka, who therefore was going to continue hiding in the outskirts of the Empire.

Still, neither could stop themselves from shedding tears at their parting. Ahsoka hugged Rex tightly, knowing deep down it would be the last time for a while.

“Stay safe, kid. And stay in touch.”

“You too. Be careful, Rex.”

“Always am.”

She missed him terribly. It was as if the wound that the Jedi Purge had ripped into her heart had only widened further. At least after the Order had been exterminated, she had had Rex to be with her as she mourned her lost brothers and sisters.

Once, Ahsoka even fleetingly considered taking the time to find Maul, who would at least be someone familiar, before mentally shaking herself. Force protect her, she must be getting truly desperate in her grief. Find Maul? What comfort could the former Sith provide except to remind her of the worst day of her life? What would she even say to him?

Maybe Rex had the right idea, to search for some of his old clone brothers. Some of the Jedi had to have survived Order 66, right? She had, and the 501st had been under special orders to kill her. Maybe she ought to go searching for her own former brethren. 


	3. 19 BBY Part 3

Inside the Black Sun base on Ord Mantell, Ahsoka waited until the guard had rounded the corner, then slipped into the central control room. It was empty—perfect. She hurried to the supercomputer and searched through the files as fast as she could. Almost…there. One file on a person named Yana Odell, who had fought off one of Black Sun’s raids on a village a few months ago. She had taken down fifty of the mercenaries primarily by pushing and pulling people and objects through the air. Yet the next day she, along with the entire village, had completely vanished. Ahsoka had heard whispers of this mysterious person while travelling and instantly resolved to investigate.

Was this a Jedi who had survived the purge? Someone who was helping out others in the galaxy? Ahsoka was going to find out.

She managed to sneak out of the facility and find her speeder bike nearby without running into a soul. A lucky day, with hopefully many more to come.

\---

From the highest room of the building that served as Black Sun’s headquarters, Maul watched Ahsoka zooming away.

“Should we pursue them, my lord?” asked the Black Sun agent, coming to stand by his employer at the window.

“No need.” Maul said calmly. “That one, I will deal with myself.”

The Black Sun agent grinned, recognizing his lord’s tone of voice. Whoever that infiltrator was, they were utterly doomed.


	4. 18 BBY Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hugely long chapter incoming. See end notes for more warnings.

“I know who you are!” All her searching had finally led Ahsoka to Odell. After gathering the most desperate clues, following up on countless false leads, she had at last located the former Jedi in a small cabin, up on the tallest mountain of the planet Yath, high above an old abandoned duraplast mine. Trekking up the mountain through the rocky, rainy terrain, and the thick, unrelenting mist for days had been worth it just to find one surviving Jedi.

She had to believe that, otherwise she had just wasted the last three months of her life.

“Do you?” The short human woman had short gray hair and wore ragged, nondescript robes. She had allowed Ahsoka to enter her windowless, nearly empty hut built into the steep mountain, likely because the sun would be setting soon. Odell had poured Ahsoka a cup of tea, but had only given her one or two word answers to her questions as they sat across from each other at the wooden table. Ahsoka hadn’t spotted see a lightsaber anywhere. Well, if Odell was going to be evasive, best to use the direct approach next. 

“Yes! You’re Yana Odell, former Jedi knight! You fought in the Clone Wars, and a year ago you saved a village from a Black Sun raid. I’ve been looking for you!”

“Why?” Odell’s closed expression hadn’t changed.

“Because…I don’t know if you remember me, I’m Ahsoka Tano. I…left the Jedi Order when I was a Padawan.” Odell’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, though with more confusion than recognition. “Did you ever hear about my trial?”

“Vaguely.”

Ahsoka waited for a second, in case she had anything else to say, but Odell was silent. “Listen, I think… you’re a Jedi. And I…was trained to be one. Don’t you think we should, you know, stick together? We could go out, look for other Jedi who’ve managed to survive!”

“What good would that do?”

She started to speak, but then Odell’s words sank in. “Uh…”

“The Jedi are through. The Sith have won, Ahsoka. Any remaining Jedi are safer alone and not drawing attention to themselves.”

“But--” Ahsoka said, then stopped. Had coming here all this way been a total waste?

No. She refused to believe it. She would make the woman understand. “So that’s it?” Ahsoka asked heatedly. “You’ve just given up?”

“It’s kept me alive so far.”

“What kind of Jedi are you? Don’t you care about helping anyone in the order at all? And why are you hiding here when just a year ago you were saving villages from gang raids?”

Instead of answering immediately, Odell rubbed her temples, knocking some of the wind out of Ahsoka’s tirade. After a pause, she said, “I assume you stayed away from the Jedi after you left, and that’s why you’re still alive?”

“Not...Not exactly.”

The old woman sighed. “I don’t want to fight, Ahsoka. I don’t want to fight anymore.”

Ahsoka looked down, chastised. Exhaustion, she could understand.

“I used to be like you. Believing in the Jedi way, even after the emperor rose to power. I caused a lot of trouble for a lot of criminal gangs. Yes, as you said, I stopped the Black Sun from massacring a village. Do you know what the villagers did in response? They ran to the nearest stormtroopers and told them a missing Jedi was in their midst. They thought the Empire would reward them by protecting them against the gangs. That stormtrooper protection was worth more than the help that one lone Jedi could offer.” Her voice was cold and mechanical, and Ahsoka began to feel unease prickling up her spine.

“How did you escape?”

Odell gave her a cold, forlorn look that instantly made Ahsoka dread the answer.

“I didn’t want to be executed by stormtroopers. The village was right next to a dam. It was an old structure, and when the imperials came, I broke the dam. The entire village washed away.” As she stood, Ahsoka could only stare in horror. “You should go. I—” She stopped suddenly, turned around, and tilted her head, as if she was listening.

“What is—”

“Shh.” Odell listened for a moment longer, then whipped her head back to glare at Ahsoka. “Were you followed?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Ahsoka said anxiously, although now that she thought about it, she hadn’t always paid close attention to her surroundings during her hike up. She reached out with the Force, and sensed several life forces nearby.

A whole squadron’s worth.

“I can help you!” she whispered urgently to Odell, jumping up and taking a step towards the woman.

Odell sighed heavily. “I am tired, Ahsoka Tano,” she said, “and you deserve to live.” She closed her eyes and inhaled.

And just as they both heard the knock at the door, Odell _pushed_ the entire side of her cabin and Ahsoka as hard as she could, right off the side of the mountain.

“Yana!” shouted Ahsoka, but, reaching out futilely, she saw the imperial stormtroopers, firing their blasters into the now completely ruined hut. As she tumbled through the open air, the last thing she saw before the entire scene was swallowed up by the mist was Yana Odell’s body collapsing to the ground.

\---

Thankfully, the mist was much thinner at the base of the mountain, such that Ahsoka managed to see the abandoned mining facility she was landing into before she smashed into the ground amid rusty metal poles. She had slowed her descent with the Force, the way Anakin had taught her, and though it had still been a rough landing, and she was certain her arms and legs would be covered in cuts and bruises soon, she was alive, with no broken bones or other severe injuries.

And thank the Force for that. For, standing in front of her, hands behind his back, was a familiar enemy.

“If you wanted to go down like Odell, you only had to ask.”

Just like at their last meeting, Maul’s lightsaber was hanging at his side, but she didn’t expect that to last for long this time.

“Were you following me?” Ahsoka demanded, as she rose to her feet, wincing. Yes, if she had to, she could probably still run and jump. She didn’t see any stormtroopers nearby, but there was no way they could’ve missed the shrieking Togruta that had dropped off the side of the mountain just now.

“I was, though mainly because I was searching for the Jedi. I must thank you for leading me to her.”

“Well, you’re too late. She’s already dead.”

“Oh, I know.”

She froze, and her vision flashed red for a moment. Her hands shook. “Did you tell the stormtroopers where she was? Did you tell them to follow me?”

When Maul’s only response was to sneer, Ahsoka felt white-hot rage bubbling up, and, channeling that fury into the Force, she hurled the closest metal pole at her feet straight at Maul.

He ignited his blade and tore through the object, but Ahsoka was ready with more poles, spikes, iron sheets, and whatever else she could pick up off the dusty ground.

“I didn’t tell the imperials anything!” he shouted as he slashed the air.

“Liar!” she retorted, flicking two spikes straight at his head.

“I simply did nothing as I watched them follow _you_. You’re getting sloppy, padawan!” Maul jeered, then began running straight towards Ahsoka. “You might as well blame yourself for her death!”

“Don’t you DARE blame me! You could have stopped them!” Ahsoka jerked her hands up to her face to create a shield of the steel objects, but the zabrak cut through them all like water, his red lightsaber flashing. As she propelled every object nearby straight in his direction, she turned and began to run, jumping up onto the roof of a nearby shack.

“Don’t you understand the Empire is hunting down Jedi? She would have been safer if you had left her alone! But you couldn’t stay away, could you?” She heard the sound of a clank behind her as Maul followed her and sped up. When the line of shacks and sheds ended, she jumped onto a set of towering structures made up of interlocking metal beams and continued to run along them. Then, she skidded to a halt as she looked down. 

Into the giant, yawning, dark hole in the ground.

It was clearly manmade, several kilometers in diameter, and was surrounded by more rusty steel edifices, most of which were broken. Thin, worn dirt steps jutted out against the inner edge of the chasm. With the daylight fading, Ahsoka could not see through the darkness to the bottom.

The sound of Maul’s metallic footsteps close behind her forced her to turn around. Using the Force, she ripped the roof tiles in front of him and lobbed them like daggers at him, but he spun his lightsaber gracefully and cut them all in half.

“Jedi,” Maul spat. “Why bother chasing after something that you chose to run away from?” He jumped over the hole that Ahsoka had created in the roof, landing inches away from her. She ducked as he swung one end of the blade at her head.

“Rather pathetic, don’t you think?” he asked, his voice filled with derision.

“Do you ever shut up??” Ahsoka yelled, and, pulling two metal spikes into her hands from the ground, leaped straight at Maul.

He sliced at the spikes, but Ahsoka had already grabbed onto the handle of Maul’s weapon.

Unfortunately, he recognized the move, and hissed, “Not this time.”

Lightning fast, he hoisted his lightsaber, with Ahsoka still holding onto it, and kicked her hard in the stomach. Ahsoka wheezed, released the blade, and, for the second time that day, soared above a vast emptiness. She spun in the air, scanning her surroundings frantically, and spotted a long cable swinging from one of the metal structures nearby. She shot her hand out, praying that the cable wasn’t broken and was securely attached to the structure, and brought the wire to into her grasping hands. It seemed to work—as the cable pulled taunt, she swung.

Ahsoka took a breath, then began the climb the cable as fast as she could. Maul would probably try to cut the wire as soon as he could, so there was—

Wait. That was probably right. So, she should deal with Maul first.

And as soon as the zabrak’s face loomed above her, she reached out with the Force and pulled him as hard as she could towards her, down into the mining hole.

Maul actually stumbled, lost his grip on his lightsaber, and began to fall into the chasm as well. Ahsoka started to swing out of the way, but she was too slow—he seized in her direction as he dropped, snatching hold of her leg. This was too much for the corroded cable, and with a terrifying cracking sound, it snapped. Together, the former Sith and former Jedi plummeted into the abyss.

\---

Unable to discern how close the bottom of the pit was, with the wind roaring all around and Maul still clutching her leg, Ahsoka, working quickly with her shaking hands, made a loop with the cable, tightened it, and threw it upwards with the Force against the wall. It snagged on something—presumably some rock jutting out—and for a moment, she and Maul hung there, in pitch-black darkness.

Then, they heard the sound of stone cracking, and Ahsoka felt the rope go loose in her hands as she and Maul resumed their descent.

In a few seconds, she felt Maul, with a grunt, fold beneath her as he hit the bottom of the pit, legs first. With an “oomph!” sound, Ahsoka collapsed on top of the zabrak. Pebbles fell around them.

Though it was still completely dark, Ahsoka immediately jolted upwards and pushed off Maul, causing him to squawk. Not caring if she scraped her skin on sharp rocks, she scrambled backwards until she was sure she was far away enough, then took a moment to reach out with the Force to get a better feel for her surroundings.

Though what she sensed was primarily rock, Ahsoka detected all objects of all sorts around her. Spikes, poles, metal sheets, as well as some large machinery. Likely some old mining equipment. She sensed the tunnels that extended into a massive maze all around the pit, the cracks and fissures in the stone around her. She heard small stones falling from above, felt the dust begin to land on her montrals…

Actually, the rumbling was getting louder, and the dust thicker, and she didn’t need any Force sensitivity to discern that. When the first boulder dropped behind her, she yelped and leaped forwards.

There was no time to think, with the pit collapsing in on itself. Dodging more and more stones falling around her, Ahsoka ran into the nearest tunnel, in the opposite direction of Maul, who as far as she could tell was also on the move. She sprinted as fast as she could through the narrow passageway, trying to run and sense the ground at the same time, all while the roof of the tunnel was collapsing inwards behind her. Finally, when she judged she was far enough from the earthquake and could not hear the sounds of stones crashing into each other, Ahsoka crumpled from exhaustion, and almost instantly passed out.

\---

Lost. She was lost.

Not just that, she was also cold, covered in grime and dirt from head to toe, miles underground, still in total darkness, and had lost all track of time. If she had to guess, judging by how sore her feet were, her own internal clock, and how much food and water she had left (thank the Force she had taken some provisions with her on her journey to Odell and hadn’t lost anything in her fight with Maul), she had probably been wandering, maddeningly slowly, through the caves for somewhere around three days. She had no light or anything that could help her see the tunnels around her, and was thus reduced to moving, crawling, and climbing through the underground maze by using the Force to sense her surroundings and her hands to feel out in front of her. Twice (three times?) she was nearly crushed by more tunnel collapses, coughing up dust as she ran. When she slept, she dreamed of endlessly running down the tunnels. And how many paths had she gone down only to hit a dead end? She was afraid, feeling more and more claustrophobic by the hour, and it was all driving her gradually insane.

And she was utterly alone. 

Well, except for the ten or so creatures that she had encountered who, judging by the sound of their hissing and clicking, came up to her waist. But she had after calmed herself down and reached out to their minds with the Force, the animals had seemed pacified before scuttling away backwards, too fast for Ahsoka to follow them.

So perhaps even the cave animals had deemed her irrelevant.

Maybe she was meant to be alone, away from people altogether. Maybe that’s was how it was supposed to be. Rex had left her. Finding Odell had only led to her death. Even clashing with Maul had led to this current disaster. It wasn’t like this was her first time on her own.

But no, no, that wasn’t who she was. Even though she was no longer a Jedi, she had and would always choose to help people.

But what if aiding people would inevitably lead to hurting them? Especially given her true identity?

Had she truly helped anyone by participating in the Clone Wars? In a war orchestrated by one person to tear the galaxy apart? Take Mandalore, for example—could she really say that she had helped the planet, by assisting Bo-Katan in her occupation of Sundari, only for the system to fall under Empire control within days after her departure? 

What would Anakin or Obi-Wan do? What would they have wanted her to do?

That was easy. They would have wanted her to survive.

And what did she want?

Ahsoka sighed, then shook her head. She was going in circles, when she ought to be focusing on one problem at a time. First get out of here, for the sake of all those who would have wanted her to make it, and then worry about the existential crisis.

She pressed onwards.

\---

After walking for hours and encountering nothing but more tunnels and stones, Ahsoka sat down to mediate for the…oh, who knew. She had lost count ages ago. Meditation had been a vital tool to keep her sane down here. She reached out with the Force, to sense the labyrinth that surrounded her, and tried to find a path to let her return to the surface.

Nothing. The tunnels crisscrossed and dropped, but she could sense no path that led upwards.

Ahsoka had tried to move the rocks that had blocked the way she had come, but that effort had been futile. Some of the boulders were simply too big to move behind her, and more than once the movement had caused distressing rumblings above her. There was no other choice—if she wanted to leave, she had to find another way out.

Unfortunately, that still hadn’t happened, and she was running out of time. She might have been able to cover more ground more quickly, but she was forced to move slowly, unaccustomed to only using the Force to “see” for an extended period of time, and also kept stumbling over loose rocks.

Ahsoka concentrated harder. Was there anything around her besides confined and narrow tunnels?

Wait. There was something. Up ahead, was that…?

Ahsoka’s eyes flew open, and she got to her feet and clambered forwards.

After walking and climbing (and nearly tripping once) for a short time, she found an open space with a moderately high ceiling. (It might as well have been a tower given how claustrophobic the tunnels were making her feel.) Stalagmites and stalactites dotted the area, and to her left she could hear water dripping. Up ahead, there was some sort of…square object? Ahsoka scrambled forwards and patted her hands around the container, which seemed to be some sort of box.

With the top part dented and ripped wide open.

Her suspicions rising, Ahsoka felt more slowly around the box, trying not to cut herself on the ripped edges. Yes, judging from the warping of the metal, if she had to guess, someone had recently torn open the top part of the box to take whatever was inside it. Carefully, she reached into the container and felt cool bits of metal and fabric. She withdrew everything and determined the metallic objects were nuts and bolts, and that the fabric was actually a small blanket.

She reached out to her surroundings as intensely as she could, but sensed no life forms. Still, the inside of the metal felt less dusty than the outside, so someone had probably been here recently. She would have to be on her guard. Ahsoka pocketed the tools, tossed the blanket around her shoulders (a small but unmistakable comfort, as her body temperature went down when she slept), and picked another tunnel at random to venture down.

\---

After finding the torn apart box, it wasn’t a surprise when Ahsoka found Maul a few hours later.

What was unexpected was that he was mumbling incoherently to himself while asleep. Ahsoka had determined this was so by inching closer around the bend once she heard his voice in the tunnel and tapping a pebble against the wall, once, twice, with no response or pause in the rambling.

As she rounded the corner, Ahsoka could only make out a few words of Maul’s muttering, including, “Master,” “Brother,” “Please,” and “Mother,” this last word being repeated most often. Even as her feet crunched the stones underneath, he did not wake.

The first thing Ahsoka spotted was the communicator device on Maul’s wrist, flashing red. She blinked rapidly, not having seen real light in days. Then, her eyes focused on the zabrak himself. Each red flare showed her that Maul, close enough to speak to but not in touching distance, was injured. He was lying on his side, facing her, eyes closed, shivering slightly, clothing torn, with gashes on his chest, arms, and legs.

What to do, what to do? Should she try to kill him? Desperate times called for desperate measures. Plus, it might make her feel better. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very honorable, and she didn’t even have a weapon other than the rocks around her. And it probably wasn’t worth risking getting buried alive by boulders. Should she try to wake him? No, that wouldn’t do any good either. He probably would resume attacking her.

The safest course of action would probably be to take the communicator device and try to wire it so that she could reach someone, anyone, outside the cave. Once she was free, she would deal with whoever answered. Returning to the surface had to be a better fate than being trapped down here.

Ahsoka reached out to try to pull the communicator device towards her with the Force, using the red flickers to see her target. The device began inching towards her…while still attached to Maul’s arm.

He flinched, and gabbled something about a “Mother” again.

Ahsoka paused, waiting to see if Maul would awaken, but he only brought his arms closer to himself.

She tried again, even more slowly, but the movement of the device still caused the zabrak’s wrist to be dragged along with it.

This time, Maul’s face curled into a scowl, and his mutterings seemed to become angrier. Then, Ahsoka heard the sound of rocks cracking, and the walls began to rumble.

Panicking, Ahsoka did the first thing that came to mind: she shouted, “MAUL, WAKE UP!” at the man. His brows furrowed, but his eyes remained closed. Was it her imagination or did the rumbling become a little less intense?

“MAUL!” He flinched again, and the walls began to shake once more. Oops. Maybe yelling wasn’t the trick.

“Maul.” Ahsoka called again. “You need to calm down. It’s--it’s going to be ok,” she said, trying to sound convincing. “Relax. You’re fine. Calm down…please.”

The crackling of the rocks ceased. Ahsoka listened hard, but heard no further alarming cave sounds.

_Useless waste of time_. She ought to just get away from here as fast as possible. Ahsoka exhaled, then turned around to go back the way she had arrived.

But before she had taken ten steps, she heard his voice, groggy but smooth as always, behind her. “That way only leads further underground.”

“Oh and I suppose you have a map of this place?” she retorted before she could stop herself.

“No. I already explored that way,” Maul said, as he sat up, grimacing. “I can also tell you that there is more than one exit to these tunnels.”

“How do you know that?”

“I did my research on this area before coming here. These caves used to be mined for duraplast but were abandoned after the Clone Wars ended, due to the spider-rat infestation, which has not at all abated.” He gestured briefly to his injuries. “But surely you already knew this?”

She stayed silent. Truth be told, before landing on Yath, she had indeed pulled up the planet’s public files, but she had only glanced over the “abandoned duraplast mining facility” information, not really taking it in. She had been more focused on finding Odell and assumed she would have no reason to go to the mines.

Maul gave a huff of laughter. “Well, no matter. We’re both here now. I take it you haven’t located a way out yet?”

She scowled, then turned to face him. “No.”

“I see. Well, perhaps if we used the Force together, we might be able to spread our awareness of the cave far enough to sense an exit.”

“You mean like a Force meld? No way.” Ahsoka backed up, hands out. “I’ve told you before, I’ll never join you.”

“Tano, this isn’t about sides, this is about getting out of a situation we are both trapped in!” he hissed, exasperated. “This was your problem after Mandalore, when the Jedi Purge was ordered. If you would just trust me—”

“What reason could I possibly have to trust you? _Especially_ after what happened on that ship?”

“Stubborn padawan—”

“I’m not a Jedi!” she shouted. Behind her, she heard the sound of the wall, or perhaps a stalagmite cracking.

Maul narrowed his eyes. “Apologies for the mistake, _Lady Tano_.” He coughed, then continued, “Whatever you are, we are down here because of you. Do you intend to simply wander around these tunnels forever until you perish?”

She frowned. Had he forgotten his own part in their duel? Alright, she had thrown the first blow, but…there was absolutely no way he could be trusted. Leaving this former Sith lord to roam free was always dangerous option, above or belowground. In the blinking red light, Maul’s disdainful, tattooed face and yellow eyes looked almost fiendish.

But she wanted to leave the caves. Perhaps it would be better to keep him in her sight but stay her on guard the whole time. At least if he attacked, she could probably cause him some serious damage in turn, before surrendering to whatever fate was dealt to her. “Maybe we can walk together,” she proposed. “I have a bit of food and water left. You have a communicator. Maybe we should use that once we can close enough to the surface to get a signal.”

Maul actually looked taken aback for a second, then relaxed. “I’m glad you—”

“I’m not agreeing to use the Force together, though,” Ahsoka interrupted. “And if you even think about trying anything _funny_ , don’t bother. I beat you once, I can do it again.”

The smile dropped. “As long as you return the favor, Lady Tano.” He stood, grimacing. “Shall we be off then? I believe there is a slight incline on this path. Perhaps this way leads to the surface.”

\---

After only an hour, Ahsoka was beginning to regret her decision to not use the Force with Maul to find a way out. The light was a major help—constantly using the Force to “see” had been a significant sap on her energy, especially on low food and water—but even silent and focused on moving forward, the former Sith lord’s presence was majorly irritating. She could sense him patiently, smugly waiting for her to change her mind, which only made her more determined to not mingle their Force powers.

When three spider-rats (which, as she had suspected, were about half her height) suddenly scuttled out from behind a corner in their path and hissed, baring their teeth, Maul jerked backwards, and lifted two stalagmites free from the ground.

“Wait!” said Ahsoka hurriedly. “I’ll deal with them.”

“Lady Tano, this is no time for a contest of—”

She ignored him, and reached out to the minds of the creatures, willing them to connect, willing them to relax. They were jittery, confused by these strange looking and stranger-smelling intruders. But no, not intruders. Just friends passing by. Nothing to worry about. Move along…

Ahsoka opened her eyes without realizing she had closed them and saw that the spider-rats had stilled. Then, they retreated back the way they had come.

She glanced at Maul, whose back was now to her and who was…looking down at two more spider-rats. Sharp rocks and stalagmites jutted out from their lifeless bodies. He caught her gaze, and said, “You have your paltry Jedi tricks, I have my own way of dealing with enemies.”

“They didn’t have to be your enemies,” said Ahsoka, somewhat annoyed.

“On Dathomir, my home planet, zabraks are taught to subdue and if necessary crush those creatures who are weaker. Otherwise, they will attack. You must always demonstrate who is the stronger species. Although I left Dathomir when I was very young, this mindset—”

“Alright, I don’t need your whole life story,” she said curtly. “We need to keep moving.”

Clenching his jaw briefly, Maul continued forward wordlessly, shoulders tense. Ahsoka followed, ignoring the twinge of guilt that had abruptly flickered within her.

\---

When Ahsoka heard her stomach growling, she pulled a ration pack out of her pouch and, while continuing to walk, began to munch on it. Maul, however, paused and asked, “May I have one as well?” Wordlessly, she tossed him another.

Then, he folded his legs and sat down.

“What are you doing?” Ahsoka demanded. “We need to go.”

“I would prefer to sit while eating,” he answered evenly. “And I would like to check my legs. I think something might be loose.”

She pressed her lips together, but he had a point. So she stood, arms crossed, until she remembered her findings from earlier, and said, “I found some nuts and bolts before. Do you want them?”

When Maul nodded, Ahsoka advanced towards him and dropped the objects into his outstretched hand, then quickly scooted back to her spot against the wall.

“I won’t bite, Lady Tano,” he said, smirking.

“No, you’ll just stab with your lightsaber,” Ahsoka said tersely.

“I lost it in the fall. So no need to fear that either.”

“Can you hurry up? I think your time would be better spent eating and fixing your leg instead of trying to get a rise out of me.”

Maul chuckled. “I wasn’t trying.”

Ahsoka bit her tongue to stop herself from saying the first thing that came to mind. In silence, Maul finished the ration pack, screwed a new nut and bolt into a spot on his metal knee, and stood up to continue down the tunnel. 

\---

Maul was the first to suggest stopping for the “night,” and Ahsoka, nearly swaying on her feet in exhaustion at that point, agreed. After they had split another ration pack and Ahsoka had settled down some distance away, using her blanket as a flimsy sleeping bag, she fell asleep instantly.

And woke, an undeterminable amount of time later, to Maul once again muttering in his sleep. He was shivering, probably because the slashes in his clothing didn’t provided adequate heat, and, as far as she could tell, rambling nonsense about Sidious, the Sith, chains, the Force, and a “Mother.” The smaller rocks around him were starting to twitch.

Not wanting to deal with another nightmare-induced earthquake, Ahsoka shouted, “Maul!” Then she took a small pebble, weighed it, and threw it at him. It clanged against his leg.

With a snarl, Maul awoke, kicked wildly upwards, and was halfway to standing before he spotted Ahsoka, who hadn’t moved.

“You were having a nightmare,” she said quietly. “Go back to sleep.” And, not waiting for an answer, she turned over, facing away from him.

She heard nothing further as he lay back down and soon, she dropped off again, and dreamed of training sessions with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Master Yoda.

\---

“Wait, what’s this?” They had reached a point where a tunnel split in two, and something on the cave wall had caught her eye. “Shine your device on it.”

Maul complied, but said shortly, “I thought they were cave markers at first, but some of them led down dead ends. Don’t pay them any mind. We should go the other way.”

“No, wait.” She moved closer, squinting. “That’s clearly an arrow! And it says…ugh the writing is faded, I can’t read it.”

“None of them are legible now. I told you, they’re useless. Let’s go.”

Annoyed, she closed her eyes and used the Force, briefly, to see if she could sense anything down either path. Unfortunately for her ego, the one Maul was endorsing inclined upwards. “Fine.”

But just as she pushed ahead of him, one hand on the wall for balance, she heard the sounds of pebbles and dust falling, and felt the rumbling beneath her hand. She looked up in time to see the roof headed right for her face.

“Tano!”

And she was yanked sharply backwards, colliding with Maul with a grunt. They both scrambled backwards as the rocks overhead crashed down into the ground and the entire tunnel entrance collapsed. 

In seconds, the path Maul had wanted to venture down was completely blocked, and the tremors had subsided, but it took them longer to catch their breath, even after Ahsoka had pushed away from Maul to maintain a semblance of distance.

“This…this one then” said Maul, gesturing to the remaining tunnel, miraculously untouched. He began to inch forward, and when nothing happened, resumed his normal manner of walking. “You’re welcome, Lady Tano,” he said, not looking back. “Are you coming?”

“You—” she started, heatedly. _You only saved me because I’m useful to you_. But, right this second, she didn’t want to waste time antagonizing him.

“Yes?” he said, dragging out the word.

“…Thank you.”

Ahsoka couldn’t be sure in the dim and increasingly fading light as Maul moved forward, but she thought she saw his head incline.

_Don’t let your guard down._

Bizarrely, the memory of being momentarily pressed against him flashed across her mind. She shook her head. _I must really be losing it. I need to get out of here._

\---

They were resting in another one of those more open spaces (though this one did not contain any boxes of supplies to rip open), sharing sips of water from Ahsoka’s flask, when Maul said, “You told me, on Mandalore, that you would help me. Did you mean it when you said it?”

She reeled back instantly, trying to sense the trap in the question. “Why are you asking me this now?”

“Indulge me.”

“Why should I?”

He rolled his eyes. “Very well then, don’t. It is merely something I have sometimes wondered.”

Curse him. Now her curiosity was irreversibly piqued. “What does it matter now? In the end, Darth Sidious won. You were right. Is that what you want to hear?”

“I’m pleased to hear you admit it. But you haven’t answered my question.”

Begrudgingly, she said, “We…had a common enemy.”

“Yes, or no, Lady Tano?”

“Yes,” Ahsoka ground out. She closed her eyes, took a quick breath. When she opened them again, she saw astonishment and disbelief on Maul’s face, but when he caught her gaze, his expression turned smug.

Stars, he was annoying. Staring directly back at him, she said evenly, “But not at the cost of Anakin Skywalker’s life. I meant that too.”

His smile vanished.

“Also, you never said Darth Sidious was masquerading as Chancellor Palpatine,” she added. “Rather important detail that would have fleshed out your story considerably, don’t you think?”

“Would it really have made any difference to you if you had known?”

“What? Of course!” she snapped.

“Really?” Maul asked sarcastically. “As you said, your objection to my plan was that Skywalker had to die. The true identity of my former master was of little consequence. Everything I said about him was true, and I told you what you needed to know. Sidious was responsible for everything, _everything_ , and revealed himself exactly when I said he would. I ask again, what difference would it have made to you that night if you had known his what his public name was?”

“It would have…” Ahsoka trailed off, her mind spinning, then stammered out, “made some things click, I thought he and Anakin…I could have…the Jedi…”

Here she stopped. For she suddenly remembered, with perfect clarity, listening to Obi-Wan relay to her that the Jedi Council had asked Anakin to spy on the Chancellor, and Master Windu mentioning the war’s imminent ending depending on the same individual.

Oh.

Oh no.

They _had_ known. Or at least suspected him.

And yet none of it had mattered in the end. Darth Sidious had triumphed, and the Jedi were gone.

Even suspecting the culprit, why had the council been unable to prevent the massacre of their own Order? What had caused everything to go so devastatingly wrong?

“Yes? The Jedi?”

Oh, right. Maul was still there, waiting for an answer. Ahsoka took a sip of water to cover her expression, then answered flatly, “The Jedi…are gone. Fine, you were right. I would never have helped you kill Anakin Skywalker, no matter who Sidious really was. Happy?”

“Enormously,” he said. The sardonic satisfaction in his voice made her want to smack him. “It thrills me to hear that your misguided loyalty and sentimental devotion to your former master, the key to my master’s plans, would have always prevented you from seeing the true threat to us all.”

Her hands clenched into fists. “Excuse me? Are _you_ accusing me of putting my own, I don’t know, selfishness, interests, above the wellbeing of the galaxy? Are you blaming me for the rise of the empire? You? Of all people?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Obviously! And that’s not the point! The point is, that is a wildly hypocritical accusation coming from you. You’ve never cared about the fate of anyone in the entire galaxy but yourself.”

“I thought the point was how we could have destroyed Sidious if not for your attachment to Skywalker.”

This was getting unbearable, and with her food and water dwindling even faster thanks to Maul’s company and no end in sight, Ahsoka made a snap decision.

“I’ve changed my mind.” she said coldly. “Let’s use the Force like you suggested to find a way out of this wretched place. Under one condition,” she added quickly, before his face could become so insufferable that she might just try to kill him then and there. “We will never speak of it again.”

Maul actually blinked in shock, which Ahsoka took some gratification in. (It was always nice to sweep an enemy off their feet.) He opened his mouth, then frowned and gazed sharply at her. Ahsoka continued to glare at him, though as the seconds passed, she felt more and more like she was being studied like a specimen under a microscope. Finally, Maul simply said, “Very well.”

\---

The Jedi had taught Ahsoka what a Force meld was, but also warned her that it was difficult to master and could be dangerous if used to excess. She had learned the basic techniques by practicing with her fellow Padawans but had only used it sparingly during the war. Anakin had never asked her to join him in a Force meld.

Now, seated cross-legged across from Maul, Ahsoka set about unwinding her mind first. She relaxed her muscles, breathed in slowly, and exhaled. In, and out. She felt the Force surround her, flow through her, protect her, calm her. Center her, empower her, guide her.

_I’m ready_ , she thought. Tentatively, she reached for the mind in front of her.

And was instantly awash in a roil of intense feelings. Raw hatred, fury, resentment, greed, and…grief? Profound unhappiness. Betrayal, pain, loss. Oh, but these emotions were not so unfamiliar to her after all. Perhaps in another life…

_Focus_. No, they had one job to do right now, and that was it.

_Now_. Together, Maul and Ahsoka turned their gaze, as one, outwards, taking in each stone, from the bits of dust to the looming stalagmites and stalactites, then expanding to the labyrinth of caves, mapping out the maze of tunnels, searching, seeking, for a way beyond the rocks, beyond the endless darkness, back to the clear air and the sky and the stars and …there!

They opened their eyes at the same time.

“You have it?” he asked, his face unreadable.

“Yes.” The Force meld had shown them the way out, and the path to the nearest cave opening was burned into her mind. It would take about two days’ worth of walking and climbing to get there.

“Let’s go.”

In spite of herself, Ahsoka could not help wondering what Maul had seen from a glimpse of her own mental state, and what conclusions he might be drawing.

\---

They said nothing else to each other until they were laying down to sleep again, a short distance away from each other. Then, Ahsoka remembered Maul’s recurring dreams, and asked, “What should I do if you have nightmares again?”

“What nightmares?” Said as more of a flat declaration than a question.

“The…bad dreams you’ve been having?” Ahsoka said, a question in her voice. “You mumble about the Sith, Sidious, your family, and then everything starts shaking?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She squinted at Maul, but his expression seemed genuinely unsmiling.

She shrugged. If he wouldn’t admit it, she wasn’t going to do the work of making him do so. And anyway, now that she had an inkling of what spawned the chronic nightmares, it wasn’t worth pushing. “Never mind.” She would just wake him up the usual way, since it had already proven effective.

They both fell asleep nearly instantly.

\---

“Mercy…please…Master…”

Ahsoka blinked groggily, pulled out of a dream she couldn’t remember.

“M…Mother…it’s so cold…cold…”

Ah. There it was.

“I’m so cold…Mother…help me…”

She found another rock that fit in the palm of her hand and hurled it at Maul’s leg again. When the chime from the hit rang out, Maul hissed as if in fear, but said nothing more. Yet, listening closely, Ahsoka could still hear his teeth chattering.

Her mouth twisted slightly. Whatever the zabrak’s nightmares were about, they probably were not being helped by sleeping in such cold, uncomfortable conditions.

With a start, Ahsoka realized she was actually feeling a little sorry for Maul. And…just because he was cold and having trouble sleeping?? No. Some of it, if she had to be being honest with herself, was a twinge of sympathy after catching a glimpse of what lay beneath his anger and hatred. How was this happening? She truly must be going insane. Maul was the last person she would have chosen to be stuck down here with. Travelling with Rex had been the opposite of this in every way.

Rex. Suddenly, Ahsoka missed her old friend with a painful pang. She and Rex, even on the run, had always understood each other and somehow never managed to get on each other’s nerves. She wished he were here. Well, not really, of course she wouldn’t actually want Rex to be trapped in a cave miles belowground. But if she had to pick between Rex or Maul as a travel companion, that was really no choice at all. Quietly, she sighed.

“What is it?”

“What?” Ahsoka said, startled. Had he heard that?

“You’re upset.”

“So?” She could feel his impatience, laced with curiosity. Wait, if she could sense his emotions…

“You…miss someone.”

She sat up, outraged. “Don’t you go poking around in my mind! Get out of there, or I swear I’ll kill you right now.”

Maul was still lying down, looking in her direction, but he turned his gaze to the ceiling. When he broke the silence after a long moment, his voice was quiet. “I had a brother once, too.”

This was the last thing Ahsoka expected to hear. She mentally rifled through all the questions she could ask, and settled on, “A brother?”

“Yes. His name was Savage Oppress. He was also my apprentice.”

She frowned, and then the name came to her. Master Obi-Wan had mentioned the name when recounting his second duel with Maul.

Obi-Wan. Someone else to miss. She felt another pang, tears welling up at the corner of her eyes again, and lay back down again to mask it. Maul didn’t seem to notice her emotional spasm as he continued.

“He was a night brother from Dathomir, our home planet. He found me years after my…defeat at the hands of the Jedis Jinn and Kenobi.” The second name said in a snarl.

“What was he like?” Ahsoka asked, preferring to avoid any arguments about Obi-Wan. A second later, she remembered her earlier declaration about not wanting to hear about Maul’s life history, but it was too late.

“Strong. Ruthless. A fierce warrior. Together, we could have conquered worlds. Like we did with Mandalore. But above all, Savage was loyal. Until the end.”

“The end?”

“He was killed by Darth Sidious. I watched the life leave his body.”

Oops. Ahsoka, not wanting to outright lie and say she was sorry he was dead, because she strongly suspected that Savage had wreaked havoc wherever he had gone with Maul, but not wanting to say something too callous, settled for, “It sounds like he meant a lot to you.”

“Hm.” She heard Maul shift in her direction and say, almost in a murmur, “You miss someone, Lady Tano. Who is it?”

She hesitated, but since Maul had divulged some of his own personal history, maybe it wouldn’t hurt if she shared a little, as long as she was careful. Anyway, with any luck she would be far away from him within a day and hopefully never see him again. “One of the clones, Rex. Actually, he and I escaped off the ship that you abandoned us on, after the Siege of Mandalore.”

“Abandoned? That implies that we had some sort of agreement to work together.”

Her lips twitched into a frown, but before she could respond to that, Maul asked, “What was he like, this Rex?”

What was safe to reveal about him? “Rex is… a lot like you described Savage. Strong, determined. But loyal too. I can always trust Rex to have my back. He’s one of my oldest and best friends.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. We parted ways some time ago.”

“Why?”

“He wanted to look for any clones who might also have had their inhibitor chips removed, which meant that he would be travelling back further into Empire territory.”

“Ah. No longer a safe haven for you.”

“Yeah. Something else you and I have in common now.” But she said it with no real bite in her voice, and Maul let out a huff of laughter.

“Yes,” he said. “The Empire has no use for either of us now. But…we survive nonetheless.”

They were quiet then. Ahsoka kept her ears strained, but heard nothing further. Slowly, Maul’s breathing deepened.

Abruptly, she realized that this might have been the first conversation she had with Maul that hadn’t ended with her peeved or enraged in some way. This had been…surprisingly not terrible, being able to actually have a conversation with one of two people who fully understood what had happened to her, sharing bits of their past with each other. She had been on the run and in hiding for over a year now, unable to reveal any part of who she was to anyone she met. Maul was something familiar, a living remnant of her past life she missed so desperately. He was…he was…

She fell asleep again before she could figure out the right word or phrase for it.

\---

When Ahsoka woke yet again to Maul’s mumbling, she wriggled out of the blanket nest she had made for herself and used the Force to toss it over to Maul. She half-expected him to rip it in two as soon it landed on his torso, but he simply sighed, curled into the cloth, and ceased his rambling.

While she slept, now blanket-less, Ahsoka dreamed of warmth.

\---

“…sending you coordinates now…”

She stirred. There was Maul muttering to himself again.

“My lord, you’re quite far from our base, and…”

Wait, that wasn’t Maul’s voice. Who was he talking to? Turning her head, Ahsoka saw that Maul was standing farther down the tunnel, speaking into his flashing communicator device.

“…I emerge. I have urgent matters to attend to, and I expect…”

Oh. From the sounds of it, he was arranging for his men to pick him up from the cave entrance. They must be close enough to the surface by now for a message to transmit successfully.

As Ahsoka stood, her hand brushed against a soft object by her head. It was her blanket, folded, as far as she could tell.

Was Maul giving it back to her?

“…later today. Be warned, you will regret it if I am delayed thanks to you. Don’t forget I have no use for incompetence.” His voice oozed arrogance and intimidation, with no trace of the milder tone from their last conversation.

On second thought, it wasn’t like she would have any use for the blanket after today. Besides, who knew what it could be contaminated with by now? She marched toward the zabrak, leaving the folded cloth behind.

“Let’s go,” she said curtly, cutting off anything he might have said, and walked ahead of him.

She thought she might have heard the sound of his head swiveling back around for a second, but he said nothing as he followed her, the communicator’s red light illuminating the way forward.

\---

“Lady Tano.” Maul said an hour later, in an inquisitive tone of voice.

“What?” she said brusquely, clambering over a sharp boulder, half-expecting some question about the blanket.

“When you attacked me, on the surface of this planet, I’ll admit I…underestimated you.”

“Not the first time that’s happened, you know.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” he responded acerbically. Well, really, he had walked right into that one. “But I was not expecting you to channel your rage into the Force. It was… impressive.”

“Uh…thanks,” she said. “But Jedi aren’t supposed to be ruled by their emotions. I shouldn’t have done that. Look where it landed us. Literally!”

“But you are not a Jedi, are you?”

She turned around to stare at him. “Where are you going with this?”

“Through passion, one becomes stronger. You had no lightsaber, yet still handled yourself skillfully during our duel. Are you saying you’ve never felt even more powerful than you already are, never won a battle, by using your emotions to fuel your moves, your strategies, your actions?”

“I can fight just fine without putting anger into my every blow,” Ahsoka countered. “Perhaps that’s something _you_ could stand to learn.”

He narrowed her eyes, nostrils flaring.

“Are you trying to give dueling tips to the person who beat you on Mandalore?” she asked. “Shouldn’t this be happening the other way around? I’m sure there’s still a thing or two I could teach you about the Jedi way.”

“I have no interest in learning your pathetic Jedi combat techniques or philosophies,” Maul said with a sneer. “Was it the Jedi or the Sith who won the Clone Wars and caused the eradication of the other, hm?”

Ahsoka felt her face morph into a livid glare. Fine then. “The same goes for you. You can keep your Sith teachings to yourself.” She turned back around and strode ahead, fuming.

Gone was any compassionate feeling she might have had for him. How ironic that only fury remained.

She froze. What if that was his intention all along?

She kept walking, but internally, Ahsoka sighed, her anger fading a little into weariness. Of course Maul was spiteful and cruel, what else could she expect from him? No use letting him rile her up. And, in a roundabout way, he had led her to realize that she ought to maintain a better grip on her emotional state, at the very least when in combat. She wanted to meditate again, but certainly not in Maul’s presence. No, the best thing to do would be to concentrate on getting out as soon as possible and control her temper. The sooner she was far away from the former Sith and this dismal planet, the better.

\---

Four people, all Pykes, armed, and sporting Syndicate insignia somewhere on their clothing, were waiting for them at the sloping cave entrance. The opening was on an incline, large enough to someone to climb but not walk through. Maul was the first to emerge, leaping outside immediately with a satisfied sound. But the bright sunlight and rock-strewn ground was too much at first, and as he squinted and shaded his eyes with one hand, he stumbled, waving one arm for balance. One of the minions snickered.

Then, his eyes widened in fear, as he began to claw at his throat.

“Something funny?” Maul asked casually, as the Pyke began to make small choking noises. The other underlings shifted uneasily. Ahsoka, climbing up the rocks, saw the shortest one nudge the Pyke closest to Maul. 

That one said, “M—my lord, your weapon,” and he held out Maul’s lightsaber on two outstretched arms with his head bowed.

Finally, Maul released the man he had been choking, and as he coughed and took deep breaths, Maul brought the lightsaber to his hand with the Force. He ignited the blade, causing Ahsoka to freeze where she was.

She looked around quickly, as Maul inspected the saber. Four speeders, all unguarded. Excellent.

Then, Maul turned off the blade, clipped it to his belt, held out his hand to the cave entrance, and said, with just the faintest bit of mockery in his voice, “Lady Tano?”

Not a chance. Ahsoka braced herself, then leaped up like a wildcat, flipping once before landing.

And wobbled, just like Maul had, until she caught hold of Maul’s outstretched hand to steady herself.

Her fingers dug into his palm, and he grasped her hand just as firmly. For one heartbeat, she held on tightly.

Hopefully if she kept her mind clear, he wouldn’t suspect anything.

Then, Ahsoka released Maul’s hand, and _pushed_ outward, using the Force. The Pykes fell backwards, but Maul merely staggered and fell to one knee.

“What are you—”

Ahsoka ran, jumping off one of the Pyke’s head, and flipped onto the nearest bike.

“Stop her!” It sounded like the one who had handed Maul his lightsaber.

As the Pykes began to fire on her, Ahsoka turned on the speeder, which mercifully came to life. Heart thumping, she zipped away as fast as she could, the wind roaring around her.

As the number of blasts dwindled, then stopped, she looked over her shoulder to see if anyone had begun to chase her on their own speeders, but she was in luck. Maul and his cronies were still gathered around the cave entrance.

Odd. Why wasn’t Maul ordering his men to attack? Ahsoka reached out, and felt Maul’s Force signature laced with disdain, with a thread of something she couldn’t identify at first.

Then she realized it was the feeling of being betrayed.

Well what else was she supposed to do? Helplessly follow a former Sith apprentice? Blindly trust Maul, once again armed with his lightsaber?

No. Never.

But, strangely, the more distance she put between herself and the companion she had had for days, the sharper her loneliness grew, like a rising ocean tide on a desolate shore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains minor character death (not super graphic), getting caught in a small rock-a-lanche, getting trapped for days in an underground cave, and offscreen animal death. But also, I really don’t know anything about caves, geology, or mining, so there are probably many inaccuracies there too.


	5. 18 BBY Part 2

In the following months, as Ahsoka struggled to settle back into a rhythm of hiding, taking on odd jobs here and there for food and a roof over her head, and never remaining in one place for too long, she attempted to keep tabs on the gangs who she knew were part of the Shadow Collective—namely, the Pykes and Black Sun. Information was scarce, as she did not have access to the channels or sources she could once did, and as she continued to hear nothing further about the gangs, she conducted her cursory searches less frequently. Fleetingly, in her loneliest moments, when the grief for everything and everyone she had lost felt like it would choke her, she even considered visiting the world the Maul had mentioned as his home planet.

Dathomir.

Her research on the planet had not yielded a great deal of information. It was a largely swampy world with a red sky, inhabited primarily by zabraks and Nightsister witches who drew power from magic and the dark side of the Force. The two lived separately, but groups of Dathomirian denizens never grew larger than villages. The planet had stayed neutral during the Clone Wars. In fact, socially, financially, and politically, it was supremely isolated—Ahsoka could find no record of any business that traded with residents of the planet, nor any politicians who represented the planet or who had any interest in connecting with it. As such, there was never any news about Dathomir that she picked up on.

Nonetheless, drifting from system to system on the Outer Rim, she occasionally found herself mentally charting the course she would need to take on a ship to reach the red planet.

She never did, of course, but the temptation to do so just to return to action, to a sense of purpose, haunted her more than she would have liked to admit.


	6. 18 BBY Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for more warnings

Ahsoka had only been sitting for a few minutes at the corner at the dim bar, in the farthest spot from the door, when she spotted the three stormtroopers entering the building.

She swore under her breath, though it wasn’t as if anyone would have heard her over the din of the crowd and blaring music. One attempt to find work on a more populated planet, and of course she would be on the run from troopers immediately. Ahsoka heaved herself up again, groaning. Force help her, she needed to sleep.

“Hey,” she nearly shouted at the weary-eyed bartender who had just brought her a glass of water. “Where’s the bathroom?”

The green-skinned twi’lek jerked her head toward a narrow, low-lit hallway in a corner of the room, eyes already flitting away from Ahsoka in anticipation of the next customer orders to deal with.

“Thanks!”

Leaving behind the mob of loud patrons and flashy dancers, Ahsoka advanced toward the hallway, careful to keep the hood of her grey poncho up and not to appear as if she was running. The Empire’s soldiers had made good headway through the mass of people. One had already approached the other bartender, an equally harried-looking theelin with bright lavender hair.

Damn it.

The long, sand-colored, low-ceilinged hall was empty, so Ahsoka quickened her pace. She passed by several metallic doors, all shut. Most had small glass windows at eye-level. Private seating, most likely. Some empty, others containing groups of people.

Her skin prickled. There was some sort of…anomaly? That she could feel from the Force, lurking nearby. No, there was no time, she had to focus on getting away. The imperials would be arriving at any moment. At the end of the hall, she spotted the bathrooms and a couple of open storage closets. No exit out into the street or windows—a complete dead end.

What now?

She glanced around anxiously, then opened the door into the last dining room in the hallway, the one closest to her, which was thankfully empty. Inside were benches, chairs, a long, low metal table pushed against the wall on one side of the room, and a couple of large flowerpots with plants that she didn’t recognize in them on the other side. Good enough.

Quickly, she moved the chairs in front of the table, then crawled underneath it. She left the door wide open. None of the other dining room doors were open; she hoped that would be enough bait to get this over with soon.

She took a deep breath, then frowned. Yes, there was something of a darker presence, strong in the Force, close by.

But it wasn’t coming from any of the three imperial soldiers who had just entered the room.

She would have to be fast, to ensure they had no time to call for backup.

Keeping her eyes on the troopers’ duraplast-covered legs, Ahsoka saw the first stormtrooper cautiously walk into the room.

Then the second.

Almost…almost…

“Check under the table,” one said.

Oh well.

Using the Force, Ahsoka pulled the third stormtrooper, who was just outside the doorway, into the room and right into the other two. All three collapsed, grunting. A second later, she shoved the table she was under at the men, leaped over them, and kicked the blasters they had dropped to the far side of the room. Then, swiping her hand, she closed the door telekinetically.

“It’s her!” cried one stormtrooper. “Stop her!”

Ahsoka flung that soldier into the wall, then let him fall to the floor, unmoving. She kicked and dodged and whirled and feinted and punched and elbowed and in less than a minute, the other two were unconscious. Sometime during the clash, her hood had fallen back down to her shoulders.

It was almost too easy.

Which was why it took her by surprise when she felt the sting of a blaster bolt graze the side of her torso, right above her hip, burning a hole through her poncho.

She staggered, cried out, whirled around. The third stormtrooper had managed to crawl to the blasters and had picked one up. He was aiming it at her now.

“Freeze!” he shouted.

How stupidly sloppy. Anakin would’ve chided her.

She was on the verge of rushing the soldier, one hand holding her injured side, when the door opened. In walked Maul, wearing a simple but spotless black cloak with the hood up so that his face was in shadow.

Great. Just when this day couldn’t get any worse. Well, at least that answered the question about the shadowy presence she had felt through the Force.

Maul surveyed the room briefly, reached out, and hauled the trooper up with the Force so that he was suspended in the air. The soldier dropped the blaster and began to make choking sounds and clutch at his throat, kicking out wildly.

“Wait!” exclaimed Ahsoka. She didn’t want him _dead_ …

Maul looked back at her, his disdain clear. Then, saying nothing, he clenched his curved palm into a fist. Ahsoka heard a wet gurgling sound, and knew that the zabrak had crushed the man’s windpipe.

He dropped the stormtrooper dismissively, leaving him to crumple on top of the blaster like a rag doll, and turned to Ahsoka, who raised both her fists. “Lady Tano, surely you aren’t harboring fond feelings for your former allies?”

“No, of course not,” she snapped. An unnecessary death was unnecessary, that was all.

It was true that right after the Clone Wars had ended, even knowing that imperial stormtroopers were adversaries to be avoided at all costs, Ahsoka had often frozen when she heard their voices, the same voices as all her old clone friends. It had gotten more frequent after she and Rex had parted ways, since every stormtrooper voice ended up reminding her of his departure. But she had been getting better recently at controlling herself when running into clones. She knew all her former comrades in arms were gone now.

“That was just…excessive,” she said, dropping her fighting stance slowly.

“Jedi honor.” Maul said, mockingly.

“I’m not--!” Ahsoka snapped, then winced as the pain laced through her. For a moment, she had forgotten about her wound. Moving the fabric of her clothes carefully, she saw that the scorch mark was small, but her orange skin was still raw from the fresh burn. She looked up in time to see Maul stepping closer, one hand outstretched towards her, and she backed away.

“Don’t touch me!”

His mouth tightened briefly in annoyance, but he withdrew his hand slowly.

“I’m fine.” To prove it, she took one more step backwards, and then almost tripped over a fallen stormtrooper’s leg. Stars, she was tired. Her cheeks burned as Maul snorted.

“What are you even doing here anyway? And where are your usual minions?” Ahsoka demanded, trying to regain some control of the conversation. At least he wasn’t coming any closer.

“I’m here on my own business.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of business? And why here?”

“Nothing you need concern yourself with. This location is good for private conversations. And I could ask you the same question.”

“I’m here on my own business,” she said, giving him a baleful look. 

“Ha. Funny. I assume the business went south then, if you’re on the run.”

Her mind flashed back to the past three days. Arriving on the sweltering, muggy planet, tired and hungry. Taking a job as a mechanic at a local seedy repair shop. Sharing scraps of food for the orphans who ran about the city, who sold spare parts or delivered messages or took on other odd jobs that they could find. Keeping her head down, until she used the Force to catch a broken shuttle when it had slid off a high platform, almost crushing an engineer. Being seen by a young female Rodian she had just slipped some fruit to earlier that day. Watching her back away, eyes wide, then running away. Following her.

Finding her speaking with imperial troopers in the town square.

Fleeing.

Hiding.

Always running and hiding.

She rubbed her face, tired of running, of betrayal, of not knowing who she could trust.

“Yeah, something like that. That’s why I need to get going.” Ahsoka pulled her hood back up and moved to brush past Maul, but he held out his arm to block her path.

“I remind you that you still owe me for saving your life.” Maul said. His tone was casual but that didn’t fool her in the slightest.

“Excuse me? I had it under control. I could’ve handled the last one you killed!” Ahsoka said indignantly.

“But you didn’t.”

She crossed her arms and set her face into a glare. “Are you going to attempt to keep me here until I agree? Going to call in these stormtroopers’ buddies to threaten me? I’d like to see you try.”

“Tano, there’s no need to be so hostile. If you’d like, I can help you hide. Escape. For a price.”

“Really,” she said, not bothering to hide the skepticism in her voice. “You expect me to trust you? After everything you’ve done?”

“Since your capture would please my former master and I no longer have any interest in doing so, you can trust me not to throw you to him.”

That was…actually probably the truth. But still. “That’s not exactly totally reassuring. _You’re_ still a potential threat all by yourself. And anyway, I’m not much use to you on this world if every stormtrooper here is on the lookout for me.”

“I didn’t say I would need your help on this planet. And technically, you’re not safe anywhere that has imperial agents. Where were you planning to go?”

“Away from here.”

“Where? To your friend Rex?”

Her face twitched. No, she hadn’t heard from Rex in months. She had no idea why. “No, not to Rex,” she said more quietly.

Maul tilted his head. “Did you actually have a specific destination in mind?” he asked shrewdly.

Ahsoka stayed silent. No, she didn’t. These days, she chose her planetary destinations randomly and within a rotation was on her way there. She was an aimless wanderer, but at least she was alive. After a while she tended to draw too much attention to herself one way or another, so staying in one place too long meant inviting trouble.

“I thought not. Consider, then, the possibility that we could both be of some assistance to each other.” He gave her an address of a warehouse in a region of the city she had walked through once before. “I’ll be at this location for one hour after the moon is at its peak tonight. My men will let you through. Come find me then, if you’d like to take me up on my offer.”

“You seem little desperate for my help. Having trouble recruiting more henchmen?”

Maul’s expression darkened momentarily, and, she sensed that he was annoyed, and not just at her. Hm. So she had guessed correctly, or something close to it. Maybe that was his business here.

“If you want my help getting out of whatever predicament you’re in, you’ll have to be a little nicer than that,” he said coldly. “So don’t push your luck, Lady Tano,”

“Right,” she said, a tad bitterly. “Luck.” Whatever it was that had brought her to the point where her life was in the trash compactor, she was pretty sure it wasn’t luck.

Maul gave her a long look, long enough for her to start feeling uncomfortable. Ahsoka suddenly realized how she probably appeared to him, with the dark circles under her eyes, her gaunter frame, her lanker lekkus with their duller coloring. She shifted on her feet, pulled her hood down so it covered a little more of her face.

“Ahsoka,” he said, coming closer again. She resumed her glare, and he stopped, but continued speaking. They were now less than an arm’s length apart. “I know you want more than constantly being on the run, always a directionless drifter.”

“You think you know me?” she asked incredulously.

“I know what it is to be lost, alone, consumed by grief and anger for what was taken from you, what should have been rightfully yours.” His voice lowered. “And don’t forget, I have seen you at your prime. You need a purpose.”

The urge to ask if he, a former Sith lord, former apprentice to the evil emperor of the galaxy, thought he could give her one, was strong. But she really had to get out of here, fast. She needed to at least clean up her injury, and at some point, the stormtroopers’ absence and failure to check in would be noticed by their superiors.

And there was an uncomfortable amount of truth to Maul’s words. She disliked that the running and hiding could never end, but that she had lost the mission she once lived and breathed, and now her life felt unbearably empty…that drained her more than anything.

Maybe that’s was why she drifted from place to place—everywhere she went, she tried to keep to herself, but the inaction gnawed at her. And even when she did lend a hand here and there, she was eventually reminded that there was not much she could, alone, to help a community or countries or planets. Most were under imperial rule one way or another. Getting too involved would just lead to a dangerous amount of attention from the Empire and then everyone would be worse off than before. So she left, before the melancholy could settle in too deep, and distracted herself with a fresh new world to see.

“I…” she began, but she was unsure of how to continue, not wanting to say something acerbic and provoke Maul any further, but also not wanting to reveal anything that ought to be kept private.

“I will leave you to it,” the zabrak said quietly, graciously. “You know where to find me.”

He turned and left the room swiftly.

\---

The night air was cool, the stars bright and the blue moons brighter in the sky. There were no citizens around, now that a curfew had been instated, but stormtroopers milled about. They didn’t see Ahsoka. No one saw her.

She was only a couple buildings away from the address Maul had given her, hiding in a dark, narrow alley, her wound clumsily bandaged. Uncertainty had dogged her every step as she had gotten closer and closer, until she was now just a few meters away and unable to go any further.

Was this truly what she wanted to do?

If she concentrated, she could sense Maul’s presence inside the building. Ahsoka closed her eyes, took a deep breath. Why was she feeling like this? It wouldn’t have been her first time teaming up with a former Sith. Ventress had proven to be a more than adequate temporary ally and, surprisingly, had not even betrayed her at all. They both had something to gain from the other by working together, and, at the time, were wanted fugitives from the ruling power. Just like her and Maul now. So what made this time so different? Why was she hesitating so strongly now?

Maul clearly seemed to be thriving in the aftermath of the war. His clothes were pristine, and, though she was no expert in zabrak biology, he seemed perfectly physical healthy and his durasteel legs seemed well-maintained. He had exuded his usual confidence and grace that came with being comfortable in a seat of power. So presumably, he was still in charge of some sort of criminal syndicate.

She thought back to her earlier conversation with the former Sith. How he had shared that he had once been in her shoes. How he had seen how exhausted she was, physically and mentally, not only due to always being on the run, but most of all at having nowhere, no one, and nothing to run to. How he had perceived too much in too short a time.

Jedi weren’t supposed to be ruled by emotion, but as Ahsoka turned around and began making her way soundlessly to one of the shipyards in the city, she knew why she was fleeing.

She was afraid.

Perhaps if it had been a simple favor for a favor, an emotionless transaction, she might have accepted the bargain. But someone like Maul, seeing and knowing her at her lowest? Working with him, or for him, in this state?

Giving him the opportunity to get even closer to her? With her emotions apparently already such an open book to him? Imagine what he could do, would do, with that possibility open to him.

She would never give him the chance.

Good thing for her she wasn’t a Jedi anymore.

\---

From inside the dank warehouse, alone but for a couple of his lieutenants, Maul could sense Ahsoka’s bright signature through the Force growing increasingly distant.

So that was it. She wasn’t coming.

He snarled. Fine. Tano was a full-blown coward then.

Admittedly, he wasn’t just annoyed at the togruta. He had heard whispers of one or two young Force sensitives on this planet and, with the numbers in his gangs experiencing a slight but noticeable decline in numbers, he had arrived in person, hoping to recruit them, but all for naught. Someone else had gotten here first.

Though, why had Ahsoka come so close, only to ultimately spurn his offer? Was it possible she had been conflicted over the choice?

Whatever her reason, she was gone now. A disappointment all around.

“We’re leaving,” Maul snapped to closest man. “Now.”

“Y-yes, my lord.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains someone’s windpipe getting crushed, followed by their death.
> 
> \-------
> 
> Commentary:
> 
> Spoiler: It was an Inquisitor who took the kid(s). They won’t be returning. 
> 
> Maul, enough with the apprentice hunting already.


	7. 13 BBY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for more warnings

Ahsoka’s next mission was to protect a rebel base.

“Oium.” Bail said. He was dressed casually on this call, so Ahsoka knew he was at home on Alderaan. “If refined a certain way, it can be added to blasters and increases the potency of blaster bolts. Very rare. Somehow, a gang called Crimson Dawn found out that it can be mined from Axi’s core, but unfortunately that has the effect of destabilizing the entire planet’s surface. It would eventually destroy the whole planet. Crimson Dawn wants all the oium that Axi can produce. Naturally, we want the planet, seeing as how we’ve already had a supply base there for two years. Obviously, these two things are mutually exclusive. I know other cells of ours have had clashed with this gang. They’re ruthless, vicious, only interested in taking whatever’s profitable and killing and maiming anyone who gets in their way. They’ve never hesitated to slaughter swathes of innocent lives if they have something to gain from it.”

“Ugh. What’s so important about this base?” asked Ahsoka.

“Some of our other cells are starting to rely more heavily on it. It’s not an ideal location for an outpost, since it’s so remote and isolated, but we can’t afford to be choosy.” Bail went on to sketch a brief description of the tiny planet—it was located at a cross section between several rebel cell sectors, was covered in dense jungles and woodlands, had breathable air and fresh water, and—most importantly—was free from Empire control.

“So of course, we refused to leave,” Bail said, returning to the present issue. “Crimson Dawn launched a surprise attack directly on our base. More than half our people were killed. This is supposed to be a supply base only, so it wasn’t so heavily defended.”

Ahsoka grimaced.

“We sent in more reinforcements. But we need to strike back, hard. That’s where you come in.”

“You know I never back down from a fight I think is worth fighting but…how badly do we need this one spot? Shouldn’t we be focusing our efforts hitting the Empire where it hurts, not some Outer Rim criminal organization?”

“It all matters in the end.” Though Ahsoka could only see Bail as a hologram, his look was no less piercing. “Axi is becoming vital to an increasing number of rebel units. We can’t let them down. Plus, what sort of rebellion force would we be if we backed down every time we were challenged? How could we ever stand up to the ultimate enemy, the Empire itself?”

“We’d be a force that knows how to prioritize?” Ahsoka offered. Through she had quickly come to trust Bail as both a leader and a friend, she was never afraid to voice her own suggestions and, at times, flat out disagreements to him.

The senator nodded. “I see your point. That’s why we’re sending you in. A quick, thorough counterattack, and the problem should be solved. I doubt Crimson Dawn will have ever met anyone like you.” 

At that, they shared a grin.

\---

And now here she was.

“Approaching now,” came Commander Hong’s voice from her earpiece. Ahsoka, perched on a tree branch, tightened her grip on a tree vine. 

The rebels on Axi, led by Commanders Hong and Lee, were eager to have Ahsoka’s help in getting rid of Crimson Dawn. They hadn’t managed to find where the gang members were hiding on the planet but had been expecting another attack any day now and had set heavier perimeter watches around the base. Distant scouts had reported that a sizable band of unfamiliar, armed warriors on speeder bikes were making their way towards the base.

“Pretty brazen of them to just head straight for this base, even if it is nighttime,” she observed.

“We were easy pickings last time. They probably think they’re on their way to finish the job,” said Commander Lee. He was holding the down the fort at the base. “But this time we have a _secret weapoooooon_ ,” he said in a singsong voice.

“Incoming…now” said Hong, just as Ahsoka picked up on the sound of muffled speeder bikes.

“Wait for my signal,” she said, before she grasped the sturdy vine, jumped, and soared through the air. She swung towards the person at the head of the mob, ignited one lightsaber to stab him, and immediately sheathed the weapon when she felt the blade hit home. The speeder bike, now missing a living person to steer it, crashed into a nearby tree and exploded, briefly lighting up a small part of the forest, including Ahsoka’s masked form, now balanced on another tree branch.

“I’m giving you one chance to turn back!” she shouted at the members of Crimson Dawn, who had all braked their bikes. “Unless you want to end up like him!”

“No deal!” came the instantaneous reply. “Keep going!”

“Fire!” Ahsoka yelled, and, using the same vine, launched herself again at the gang, igniting her blade again to deflect the incoming blaster bolts. The bikers continued toward the rebel base, but Ahsoka managed to kick one member off his bike, twist so that she was sitting in the driver’s seat, and zoomed forward, steering with one hand and slashing other speeder bikes with one lightsaber with the other. From the surrounding trees came a few blasts from other rebels.

“Just like we planned,” Ahsoka said, pushing a button on her earpiece. “I’ll take out as many as I can now. You ready yourselves at the base.” 

\---

“Not bad, Lee.”

“All thanks to you, Fulcrum! I think we’ve beaten them back for good.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. That’s why I put a tracking device on that one’s speeder.”

“Oh. Good thinking! Is that why you let him get away?”

“Pretty much. And maybe he’ll let his buddies know not to mess with us in the future.”

\---

“Hey. Dryden. We might have a problem. There’s somebody new with the…whatever they call themselves. The Rebel Alliance or something? The people on Axi. A Togruta, with two…laser swords? I don’t know how else to explain it. Yeah. She…um, there’s no other way to say it. She wiped out our attack force. This might be harder than we thought. Yeah. Yeah. Ok. I’m on my way.”

\---

Crimson Dawn fought back—wantonly attempting to mine oium, burning forests, poisoning fresh water supplies, shooting down rebel ships if they caught them heading towards Axi, kidnapping the rebels they caught and then maiming them for good measure too.

Ahsoka was equally ruthless. She arranged for more rebel ships to patrol the planets and try to shoot down any incoming vessels that did not immediately identify themselves as Alliance members and coordinated raids and strikes on the land-based Crimson Dawn members. Any captured gang members were summarily interrogated. Most were executed. One major disadvantage for the gang was that any attempts to mine the oium on the planet resulted in earthquakes, which made it was easy to find and attack any would-be miners. Within a few weeks, she had decimated all the gang members the rebels could find, and all patrols were picking up few signs of any continued presence. 

It reminded her of some of her missions during the Clone Wars. This was what she knew. This was what she was good at.

Okay, so maybe she did like the feeling of winning too. And she definitely loved the feeling of using what she had been trained to do to fight for a cause she believed in wholeheartedly.

\---

“Fulcrum, Crimson Dawn is bringing a fleet of starships. The patrol ships were no match. They’re headed straight for the base.”

Those were the last words Ahsoka heard before seeing the ships rain blaster fire down at her from the ground, killing several rebels on the ground and scattering the rest. But that hadn’t been what caught her full attention. One starship in particular had been flying straight toward the base. Then, while in midair, the pilot had opened his hatch and dived toward the ground, letting the ship fly straight towards the tower of the rebel base. Ahsoka, straining with all her might, had used the Force to push the pilot-less ship into the path of another Crimson Dawn ship in midair.

She knew who the pilot was even before whipped back around.

Time seemed to slow, as Ahsoka stared at Maul. He was garbed in simple robes that blended against the night sky, body coiled and prepared to fight. His twisted anger and fierce hatred, familiar and so obviously Maul, radiated through the Force like a burning sun.

For a moment, she wondered what he sensed from her.

Ahsoka couldn’t say who attacked first. All she knew was that both of them had ignited their blades, leaped at the other, and slashed nearly simultaneously.

“They told me a togruta with two laser swords was leading this unit.” Maul said, baring his teeth in a grin. He jabbed at her with one end of his lightsaber, and she cartwheeled backwards to avoid it.

“Aw, scurrying out of the shadows, just for me? I’m flattered,” she bit back, before swinging her blades in an overhead hack, which he blocked. White blazed against red, and around them, the battled raged forth. Ahsoka saw Hong and Lee out of the corner of her eye, ducking and shooting. Explosions were materializing all around, yet no one seemed to want to come near the two lightsaber-wielding warriors.

She wasn’t sure how many more swipes, parries, and lunges they had exchanged before Ahsoka realized she was actually…enjoying herself. Slightly. Not since the Inquisitor on Raada had Ahsoka faced off against an opponent who was as skilled as her, much less one who could use a lightsaber. Here was an actual challenge.

Unfortunately, she felt the corners of her lips quirking upwards, and with their lightsabers illuminating their faces, there was no hiding her expression. Worse, she could feel Maul intuitively sensing the change in her emotions as well, and he actually smirked. His gaze swept over the skirmish around them. Ahsoka could not tell who was winning, but it seemed that the rebels had rallied back and, with the addition of all rebel patrol ships now engaged in battle, she would have guessed things were in a draw.

“Same time next week, Lady Tano?” Maul said, with the same taunting look on his face. She charged at him, but he blocked her attack and kicked her in the stomach, flinging her backwards. She yelped, and skidded on the hard dirt. Ahsoka scrambled to her feet as fast as she could, but Maul had already jumped onto a ship that had flown down to collect him.

Crimson Dawn was retreating.

\---

But not, it seemed, permanently.

“With Maul here, things could get dicey, fast,” Ahsoka said to Bail, pacing in her ship. It was still dark outside. She had patched through to the senator as soon as she had helped Hong and Lee bring the wounded indoors and do a quick gauge of the damage (bad) and casualties (really not good). “You know who he is, what he’s capable of.”

“You said you beat him once though, didn’t you?” asked Bail. This time, he was on Coruscant sitting in his office, so the call had to be quick.

“I did. But it wasn’t easy. I don’t know if I could do it again. He’s powerful, and very dangerous. Plus, it looks like he’s brought a small fleet with him. If we want to win against all of Crimson Dawn on this planet on pure strength, we’d need to pull in all the nearby rebel cells to help us out. And even that won’t guarantee a victory.”

The senator steepled his hands in front of his face. “Is it time to retreat from Axi? You were right, you know, we can’t afford to pool all our resources into one fight for one supply base.”

Ahsoka pressed her lips together, thinking. “Let me try negotiating with him first. I have a couple of ideas to run by you.”

\---

Finding Crimson Dawn’s makeshift headquarters the next day and convincing them to let her speak to Maul, one on one, in a neutral location, was the easy part. Compared to what she was doing now, anyway.

Negotiation.

(Not aggressive negotiations, by Anakin’s definition. Yet.)

“Are you here to surrender to Crimson Dawn?” was Maul’s first question, when they had reached an open field.

“I’m offering you a choice,” Ahsoka responded calmly. They were both standing, with their sabers on their respective hips, but she sensed mostly curiosity coming from Maul at this point. “You can pick one of two scenarios. In the first, we all cut our losses. The Alliance keeps Axi, and does business with Crimson Dawn. You can sell us whatever we might be interested in—weapons, food, medical supplies, whatever. Though, understand that we’re not exactly swimming in money. We won’t be single-handedly funding your entire criminal enterprise.”

“Interesting,” Maul said musingly. “I’m told the oium that can be mined from this planet could be worth a fortune. And as you just pointed out, your rebellion is not all that wealthy.”

“There’s more. By extension, we would stay out of your way. We would spread the word to steer clear of openly clashing with your gangs. It’s not exactly good business to buy from someone and then shoot them the next day. We’d expect the same from you of course—if you get your money and then kill the rebels and take the supplies back, we would certainly object.”

“You would only ‘spread the word?’” he asked skeptically.

“I will do what I can. But I don’t have control over the actions of every single member of our coalition. None of us is in contact with every single unit, by design. And I can’t promise that any rebel would just lay down and surrender if provoked by one of your underlings. I understand there have already been clashes between your gangs, not just Crimson Dawn, and other alliance units elsewhere. With casualties on both sides.”

“I see.” Ahsoka thought she sensed some surprise emanating from him. Perhaps some of his subordinates tried to hide as many of their losses from him as possible.

“Here is the second option. You can take this planet. But I will inform as many rebel cells as I can to attack any of your gangs if they encounter them, if they have the means. I will personally work to destroy Crimson Dawn. And I’ll be sure to take out any Pykes or Black Sun members or anyone else affiliated with your criminal syndicates along the way.”

Maul chuckled. “You’re not a very good negotiator, Lady Tano. Don’t you already have your hands full with this little rebellion?”

“I can multi-task. Plus, taking down Crimson Dawn would technically count as eliminating a threat against our organization.” 

“And you’re so confident in your ability to single-handedly wipe out one entire crime syndicate?”

“Didn’t you once say I have Obi-Wan Kenobi’s arrogance?”

As she expected, his expression shifted into a glare, and he hissed, “Watch yourself, Tano.”

Risky, she knew, but it got her point across. She suppressed the urge to grin. “I’m sure I could do significant damage, at any rate.”

He gave Ahsoka a thorough once-over, letting his gaze travel down and up. “Yes. I believe you could,” he said, half thoughtfully and half begrudgingly.

She raised her eyebrows. “Good. Then you can see why option one is the better choice. Have you made up your mind?”

“Not yet. I have some follow up questions.”

“Go on.”

“Your plan to take down Crimson Dawn. Where do I fit into it?”

Ahsoka wrinkled her nose. “Um, I’m not telling you just so you can plan ahead.” Maul frowned, but before he could say anything she added, “Someone’s got to keep you on your toes.”

At that, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. “Alright. Next question. You know we just attacked your base.”

“Yes, I was there.”

“You know exactly what Crimson Dawn is, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you’re willing to trade with us, and otherwise stay out of our way?”

“So I’ve said.”

This time, Maul gave a full-blown laugh. Ahsoka kept her face neutral, and when he was done, she said, “Something funny?”

“I am surprised to see your rebellion willing to associate with an organization whose actions I know it, and you, would not condone. Unless you have changed rather drastically since we last met.”

“Like I said, all bets are off if we’re provoked. But—” and here she grimaced, “--our rebellion needs to stay alive. This is war. We need all the help we can get.”

“Let me rephrase then. I am surprised to see you willing to join forces with me.”

At that, she crossed her arms. “This isn’t an alliance,” she said, letting her irritation show. “It’s a trade deal. And an agreement to leave each other alone in all other circumstances.”

“Call it whatever you like,” said Maul in a satisfied tone. “Just know that your hands won’t be as clean as you might think they’ll be.”

Her lips twitched into a scowl. _Focus_. “Have you made up your mind then?”

“Hmm. I believe I have. You may come by to finalize the ‘trade deal,’” and here his tone became derisive, “in an hour.” With that, he turned around the way they had come.

She glowered at his retreating form, yet couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief. That that had gone much better than she had expected.

\---

Ahsoka wasn’t one of the Alliance’s financial experts, her areas of expertise being more in the realm of guerrilla warfare strategy, reconnaissance, and mission dissemination. Commander Hong was a weapons expert, while Lee, for all his lightheartedness, was a wiz at haggling. Both were well informed on what the rebel cells needed most in this sector of the galaxy.

While the commanders bargained inside a Crimson Dawn ship with two of Crimson Dawn’s leaders—one a light-skinned human with faint scars running down his face, the other an Imroosian woman who appeared completely calm externally but whose anxiety was instantly palpable to Ahsoka—she and Maul sat behind their respective negotiators. Everyone’s weapons had been removed at the door and were being guarded by one Crimson Dawn employee and one Alliance rebel outside. Ahsoka kept a third of her concentration on the conversation happening in front of her, a third on her surroundings to make sure they wouldn’t be suddenly assassinated by Crimson Dawn agents, and a third on Maul, who she could tell was also partially watching her in return. Neither of them said a word during the meeting.

This pleased Ahsoka so much that, when the parties took a break to regroup, Ahsoka, after checking in with Lee and Hong to make sure things weren’t going downhill, approached Maul directly.

“Being a criminal gang leader seems to suit you. You seem well,” she commented, joining him as he surveyed the landscape out the window.

“It does, for now.”

“For now?”

“For now,” Maul repeated.

They were silent for a moment, and then Ahsoka said quietly, “I’ll admit it. You were right about what I needed,” she said,

“Of course I was,” he said, still not looking at her.

_Naturally…why did I even try?_ She rolled her eyes and made to withdraw, but then he added, “You do look well. The warrior I met all those years ago has found her path again, even if it is leading a doomed rebellion.”

“I refuse to agree with the ‘doomed’ part, but other than that…thanks,” she said, somewhat mollified.

“The lost togruta has found her way out of the cave,” he added, grinning sideways at her now.

“Hey, you were lost down there too!” she retorted. But she could feel a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“So I was,” he said, returning his gaze to the window.

Abruptly, she remembered when they had used the Force meld together to find a way to escape the labyrinth. She remembered sustaining herself within the Force, nearly drowning in Maul’s roil of emotional anguish, then, in spite of that, connecting and concentrating their combined power to look beyond themselves and find their way out, to freedom.

Ahsoka looked at Maul at the same time that he turned to her again, and saw his yellow eyes had lost their mocking edge. She knew, instinctively, that he was reliving the same memory.

She wasn’t sure how long they stared at each other, but she was surprised he was staying silent. Then she recalled that he had agreed to never speak of the incident again, and she could feel her expression softening even more at the sudden gratefulness that rose within her.

He was standing very close. Slowly, he lifted his hand and reached out…

“Well, shall we resume our business?” cut a voice across the room. They turned to see that the proposal had come from the scarred human. Vos, that was his name. His expression faltered as he looked back and forth at the pair.

Ahsoka stepped backwards. “Yes, thank you Dryden,” she said formally, returning to her seat without a backward glance at Maul.

\---

The discussion concluded around sundown. No one was wholly satisfied at the outcome, but as Lee had whispered to Ahsoka, that was expected.

Ahsoka and Maul had resumed their silence. She had only eyed him directly once, shortly after the conversation resumed, and his returning gaze felt like it burned through her. She didn’t look at him again.

She had thanked Vos and the Imroosian before they exited the room, only giving Maul a swift, impassive nod. Lee and Hong departed next, closely followed by Ahsoka, but just as the commanders had exited the room and Ahsoka was about to cross the threshold, she heard Maul’s voice behind her say, “Lady Tano.”

She stopped, and saw the door close in her face. She knew that had been Maul’s doing, but refused to spin around, and after a few seconds the zabrak said, “Have you nothing more to say?” His tone was clipped, yet she heard the undercurrent of something else underneath it. Something more hopeful.

_No_. _Yes. No._

Without a word, she waved her fingers, opening the door with the Force, and joined Lee and Hong in leaving the ship.

\---

_Yes._

With the Axi situation accounted for, the Alliance was sending Ahsoka on another mission. They agreed that she could stay for three more days on the planet to make sure the first exchange of supplies and money between Crimson Dawn and the rebellion base went off without a hitch. Then, she would leave.

Plenty of time, and yet no time at all.

With that thought in mind, Ahsoka knocked quietly on the door to Maul’s private quarters. The sound rang in her montrals like a bantha’s roar, though she knew only two people would have heard it. No one else was around—she had made absolutely sure of that.

No one could ever know what she was about to do.

“Enter,” came a voice from within the room.

The room, lit only by the moonlight coming through the window, was sparsely but functionally furnished. The desk, couch, dresser, bed—all clearly of fine quality, but there were no trinkets or ornamentation anywhere she could see. Maul was sitting behind the desk on the opposite side of the room, a datapad in his hand. His lightsaber was resting on a corner of the desk.

“Lady Tano,” he said, cordially enough, but both his eyes and tone betrayed his surprise. He set down the datapad as she closed the door behind her. “I wasn’t expecting you at this hour.”

“I’m not here on behalf of the rebellion,” Ahsoka said, approaching the zabrak slowly.

“Oh? Someone else, then? I assume it can’t be Jedi business.”

“It’s not.” Deliberately, she unhooked her lightsabers from her hip, and saw Maul stiffen.

“So why are you here?” Ahsoka could feel his genuine confusion at her having let his jibe pass. 

“Let’s just say—” she carefully placed her lightsabers down next to his, “—it’s personal.”

Maul said nothing, eyes wide and riveted on her face, complete astonishment in his unguarded expression. She reached out to him with the Force, tentatively trying to get a read on his emotions, and only sensed bewilderment and curiosity.

And just the slightest hint of anticipation.

Ahsoka leaned down. “Don’t make me regret this.”

A minute later, there was a thump, and the three lightsabers clattered to the ground, each one falling on top of the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: I don’t think there’s anything too triggering in this chapter, but Crimson Dawn and the Rebel Alliance fight over a planet, so you can expect references to the kind of violence both sides employ. 
> 
> \---
> 
> Commentary:
> 
> I don’t know anything about ecology and jungles, I just wanted a brief moment of Ahsoka swinging from vines like Tarzan.
> 
> As an analogy, I see this whole conflict as two groups fighting for control over a tiny uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean if that island had, like, a really great gas station. And also a diamond mine that, if mined, would sink the island. 
> 
> Non-explicit hooking up in the next chapter.


	8. 12 BBY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for more warnings

When Bail Organa contacted Ahsoka a year after her departure from Axi to discuss the recent news about Crimson Dawn, her mind instantly flashed back to the last three nights she had spent on the planet.

The first night with Maul had started out tentative. Cautiously exploratory. Both half-expecting to be rebuffed in the next second. 

In fact, when it seemed like they were on the verge of discarding their first layer of clothing, Maul had asked, “So, my lady, when are you planning to run this time?”

“That depends,” Ahsoka had answered archly. “Only when I don’t feel like it’s worth my time to stay any longer.”

Things had become somewhat feistier after that.

It hadn’t been her first time (that honor belonged to Kaeden), nor even her second, but it had been her first with someone who had previously been bisected across the torso and whose entire lower half had been replaced with unfeeling durasteel. This had initially resulted in some awkwardness. Fortunately, Maul still possessed other erogenous zones above the waist and had been amenable to Ahsoka’s ministrations. And very willing to return the favor in kind.

Before the sun rose, Ahsoka had snuck out, back the way she came. She hadn’t seen Maul or anyone from Crimson Dawn at all during the day while the Alliance was waiting for their shipment of weapons and supplies.

On the second night, after they had greeted each other with a fervent kissing session, Ahsoka had made a suggestion.

“Let’s fight. With our lightsabers. Right here. Not to the death,” she had added, seeing the look on Maul’s face. “Just as a sparring session between two Force wielders.”

“Yes…I think I would like that,” Maul had said after a moment’s consideration. “A rematch,” he had added with a smirk.

Ahsoka had rolled her eyes. “Sure, if that’s how you want to think of it. But, you know, to make it a real reenactment,” and here her eyes had lit up with excitement, “you remember how you were imprisoned after you were captured on Mandalore? In the sarcophagus?”

“Yes.”

“How about whoever wins our duel gets to…restrain the other in a similar fashion? And then the winner can do whatever they want to the loser, for a bit?”

“I don’t exactly have such a device on hand, Lady Tano,” Maul had said dryly. “I understand there are no such vaults in existence anymore, on Mandalore or anywhere else. Though, I believe we might have a pair of Force suppression cuffs somewhere in the armory.”

Ahsoka had been reluctant initially—just a few days ago they had faced each other on an actual battlefield—until Maul had said, “Why don’t you keep the key in your hand at all times? That way you can unlock the cuffs whenever you’d like. And if you drop it, that will be the sign for me to cease whatever I’m doing immediately.”

“You haven’t won yet!” But she had consented to this proposal, and he had retrieved the cuffs.

Neither had held back. He had fought with his usual viciousness, she with her grace and nimbleness. And again, Ahsoka was victorious, disarming Maul and pointing her saber at his throat in one fluid motion. In this way, she was able to fulfill some fantasies that had crossed her mind a couple of times in the years since she had released Maul from the sarcophagus.

But since she was also of a generous nature, Ahsoka agreed to one more rematch, which Maul had won. Afterwards, he had been ruthless but careful, and she hadn’t needed to use the key to free herself at all.

Even once the cuffs had been discarded, they had continued with the same amount of intensity they had employed during their duels. At one point, the window had shattered completely, the glass shards spilling onto the floor. Someone had lost control for a second.

“The timing was off, but I suppose that did happen in the throne room too,” Ahsoka had said wryly, before Maul had pulled her towards him by her two front lekkus for a long kiss.

The next day, the first shipment arrived, right on schedule. Hong had pronounced everything satisfactory, and Lee had handed over the credits to Vos. Maul had not been present, which had been both a disappointment and a relief to Ahsoka.

On the third and last night, their coupling had begun rather ferociously, picking up where they had left off the previous night. (Someone had boarded up the broken window. Ahsoka didn’t know who.) But soon, their touches turned languid. Ahsoka had drifted in and out of consciousness while her lekkus were being stroked until she fell asleep.

She had woken to the sound of muffled crying. Maul’s was back was to her, but she could see his shoulders shaking.

“Hey,” she said softly, “I’m here.”

For a second, he didn’t move. Then he had turned around, eyes redder than usual, and curled against her. His breath was hot on her neck as he wrapped one arm around her possessively. Ahsoka had said nothing, wiping away the tears on his face, caressing his horns, and tracing his face tattoos until his breathing turned even and deep.

An undetermined amount of time later, Ahsoka had awoken to another, sharper sensation, Maul’s face grinning wickedly above her, yellow eyes gleaming. She raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, my lady?” Maul had said, slyly. Not at all like he had just recently been silently weeping into her shoulder.

She decided to play along. “Nothing,” she had said loftily, shifting a little. “You may continue.”

Afterwards, he had murmured, “Come find me on Dathomir,” and had given her a set of coordinates and the name of a zabrak village he stayed near.

“Uh, I have work to do, remember?”

“Surely the alliance can spare you for a little while, here and there.”

“We’re supposed to leave each other alone,” she had reminded him. “Except for business dealings, and you don’t need me for that. That was the agreement. Though, of course, if you’d like to become even more involved with the rebellion…”

Predictably, Maul had scoffed. “I don’t like to align myself with hopeless causes.”

And she had sighed, feeling a mixture of relief and trepidation.

Ahsoka knew she had found her new calling in the rebellion. Nothing but victory or death would tear her away. No distractions. But Maul had essentially admitted the rebellion had no place in his life. She was sure that he would never stray from his eternal quest for personal gain and power. Thus the two could not be reconciled.

She had thought that it was clear that she meant for their nightly rendezvous to only be a one-time thing. In fact, she knew had given into her curiosity and desire so enthusiastically precisely because she expected to never see Maul again. For three nights, when the former Jedi and former Sith could be alone, the normal rules went out the window.

But only for those nights.

Evidently, now that Maul’s offer lay on the table, stark and unambiguous, he had been hoping for more.

_Stubborn, possessive bastard._

He was still waiting for a response, the wariness on his face growing more pronounced by the second. She ought to just tell him no, explain her true intentions.

And yet, Ahsoka could not give him the answer he craved.

So instead, she had kissed him, hoping it would be enough of a reply. It seemed to work—he had relaxed and sighed against her lips.

Before the sun was up, Ahsoka had risen before Maul, collected her lightsabers from where they had fallen on the floor, and left without saying another word.

She had departed Axi within the hour.

\---

“Fulcrum,” Bail said. “I’ve been getting reports that Crimson Dawn is…well, they’ve always been brutal, but these. These are killing sprees.”

“Yes,” said Ahsoka, pushing down her guilt. She had read the reports herself. Many had died from wounds that could only have been inflicted by a lightsaber.

“Is this worth pursuing? Our fight is against the Empire, and yet…I feel we cannot ignore this. Do you think this has something to do with our agreement with the gang? Is he testing us?”

_Perhaps. Or it might be something else_. But she couldn’t reveal too much to the senator. Ahsoka wasn’t sure whether Maul was simply doing this as a way to relieve his anger and distress, when he realized she had no intention of ever seeing or speaking to him again, or as revenge, or as a taunt. She suspected it might be a bit of everything.

And technically, he had not broken their agreement. Crimson Dawn had not targeted any rebel units, as far as they were aware.

Still, Bail was right about one thing. They had to do something. “Maybe,” said Ahsoka. “But I have an idea. What if we plant some of our people in places where Crimson Dawn is planning a raid? Then they could retaliate. That would be, strictly speaking, be allowed in accordance with our deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: This chapter contains a bit of light bondage, and also…there’s no way to explain this without massively spoiling the end of the chapter, but what is it called when Person A ghosts Person B and Person B goes on a murder spree afterwards? Whatever that’s called, it is referenced in this chapter, though not witnessed first-hand.
> 
> \---
> 
> Commentary:
> 
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ . Every encounter between Maul & Ahsoka in the Siege of Mandalore arc was…very inspiring. 
> 
> I refuse to give a Maul a fake dick though.
> 
> Are force suppression cuffs a thing? Well they are here. And somehow, they only cover a person's wrists and not their entire hands too. Leave me alone, I can do what I want.


	9. 9 BBY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna warn upfront this time: this chapter contains implied Maul/Qi’ra.

When Maul first mumbled “Ahsoka,” Qi’ra had thought little of it. After all, he had been half asleep at the time, and Maul said lots of things when he wasn’t fully conscious. Mostly when he was in throes of his nightmares.

But a week later, she definitely noticed when he whispered “Ahsoka,” gripped Qi’ra’s arm a little more tightly, and then let out a soft but unmistakable moan. Once again, he had not been awake to hear himself.

“Who’s Ahsoka?” Qi’ra asked idly the next day during sparring practice. Maul actually faltered in his blows for a second, long enough for Qi’ra to sweep him off his feet and knock him flat on his back.

“No one,” he said curtly after catching his breath. “Where did you hear that name?”

“You’ve said it before,” Qi’ra said, keeping her voice composed. “When you were asleep.” She resumed her fighting stance.

Maul made no comment, though his expression shuttered. For the rest of the training session his strikes were even more aggressive than usual. When he called finally called a halt, he stormed out without another word. Usually, he was quick to offer criticism on her forms, reflexes, speed, anything he had noticed as less than perfect.

Qi’ra made a note to run a search for what information she could find, if any, on this “Ahsoka”.


	10. 7 BBY

Only once, shortly after Qi’ra had sold out Maul to the Inquisitors and become Crimson Dawn’s true leader, did the thought of asking Tano for help cross his mind.

Naturally, he instantly rejected the idea. Ahsoka had made it clear she had no interest in maintaining any sort of even slightly amicable relationship with him, and he would not debase himself by running to such a person for help. Plus, even without the resources of Crimson Dawn and the other criminal organizations at his fingertips anymore, he certainly wasn’t weak and defenseless on his own.

Maul shook his head, faintly disgusted with himself, and forced the memories of the stubborn togruta out of his mind.


	11. 4 BBY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned: More Qi'ra! But I watched Solo only once, and I was half asleep at the time, so I probably severely mischaracterized her. Apologies.

“Ahsoka, do you know who, or what, he is?” Ezra had asked.

“No,” she had answered, turning away from his curious, anxious face. “I don’t.”

It wasn’t a total lie. She had never encountered someone with such a warped amount of fury and fear that she had sensed from the Sith Lord. That was nothing like the strong, brilliant Force energy she could always feel from Anakin, until he was lost to her.

It couldn’t be him. Anakin was gone, she had reached out to him countless times through the Force after the Clone Wars had ended and had come away empty every time. And yet.

What had happened to him?

 _“He is the key to everything.”_ Alone in her quarters, the old memory came to her, unbidden. She could almost smell the acrid smoke, feel the rumblings of explosions around her as she stood in the throne room. _“He has long been groomed for his role as my master’s new apprentice.”_

No, there was no way that could possible. Maul was a former Sith—not exactly known for his honesty and trustworthiness.

_“You lie.”_

Moreover, he had never possessed what she would call…complete soundness and stability of mind.

_“Your vision is flawed.”_

And who was to say he could even remember a dream he had had fifteen years ago?

What would Anakin have done?

At that, she let out a sigh. There was no doubt in her mind that her former master would have chased down any clue, any hint that would help him find the truth, if their positions had been reversed.

“You’re making excuses,” she mumbled. As conflicted as she was at seeing Maul again, if it was the price that she had to pay get to the bottom of the mystery of the Sith Lord who might or might not have something to do with Anakin Skywalker, well, that was really no choice at all.

One quick trip to Dathomir couldn’t hurt, right? She would be back before the rebellion could miss her.

Ahsoka stood, and went to prepare her own ship.

\---

After landing on the blood-red planet, Ahsoka had more questions than answers. As far as she could tell, the whole village had been abandoned. Or worse. Every clay and rock building was entirely empty of people. There was moldy dishware stacked haphazardly around kitchens, clothing sometimes stored away and sometimes randomly laid out or hanging on furniture, and other belongings displayed in homes collecting dust. Something had caused the villagers to leave, apparently in a hurry.

Across the village lay a ravine, and beyond that, snowy mountains. The side of the mountain that slid into the chasm looked oddly amputated. Ahsoka soon realized why upon taking a closer work —the bottom of the canyon was littered with boulders and chunks of what looked like pieces of a tall building. If she had to guess, something had caused a structure built into the mountain to slide into the ravine. 

Maul had given her the coordinates almost a decade ago. What could have happened in that time?

Above the chasm, Ahsoka sat down on a copper-colored rock. It seemed like her only option left was to try to use the Force to figure out what had happened here and see if she could sense Maul nearby. Or, if not, try to reach out to him through the Force. She was pretty sure that by this point she had tangled with him enough times to recognize his presence in the Force.

But just as she closed her eyes, she heard a woman’s voice behind her say, “He’s not here.”

Instantly, Ahsoka jumped up and wheeled around, the movement whipping her cloak whipping around her. Standing ten feet away was a slender human woman, dressed in a lavish fur coat, her hair elegantly coiffed. 

“Who are you?” they both said at the same time.

The woman smiled, though it didn’t quite hide the guarded look in her eyes. “My name is Qi’ra.”

“Ahsoka. Who isn’t here?”

She didn’t miss Qi’ra’s split-second look of surprise, before mostly smoothing back to placidity. “I mean Lord Maul, of course. I assume you’re here for him?” Something about her expression was a little too knowing.

“He has information I need. Do you know where he is?”

“I believe he is dead.”

Ahsoka reeled back. “Are you…are you sure? How do you know?”

“What information are you seeking?”

“I don’t think you can help me with that. Look, do you know where he is or not?”

The woman held up her hands. “I meant no offense, forgive me. You can’t blame me for being careful.”

The insignia of Crimson Dawn was branded on her wrist. Slowly, Ahsoka asked, “What’s your connection to Crimson Dawn?”

“I am its leader,” Qi’ra replied calmly.

“What happened to Maul? Are you sure he’s dead?”

The woman’s expression became openly suspicious, yet Ahsoka could still sense the curiosity brimming in her. “What is he to you?”

“I told you, he has information I need.”

“That’s all, then?”

“What do you mean ‘that’s all’? I don’t care about your gang. I just needed to ask Maul some questions, nothing to do with Crimson Dawn, and then I was planning to leave. That’s it.”

Qi’ra’s expression didn’t soften, but her gaze moved past Ahsoka’s shoulder into the distance. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we talk on my ship?”

“About what, exactly?”

“You won’t find Maul here, I’m sure of that. I usurped him as leader of Crimson Dawn. But in the months leading up to it, he was…distracted. Obsessed with something. I don’t really know what it was, but maybe you’ll have a better idea. Perhaps it’s related to the information you seek.”

Noticing Ahsoka’s hesitation, Qi’ra added, “You can take your weapons with you if it would make you more comfortable. I’m not trying to kidnap you.”

Well, it was the only lead she had now. There was something this Qi’ra wasn’t telling her, and Ahsoka wanted to find out what she was hiding. After a moment, she nodded and said, “Alright.”

\---

Qi’ra was not able to answer Ahsoka’s main question. _What exactly did Maul see in his vision of Anakin Skywalker before the Jedi Purge?_ No surprise there. But she did tell Ahsoka what she could remember about what had captivated Maul so thoroughly before his ousting, from titles of books, pages she had glanced at in these books and some scrolls, and a few files she knew her boss had perused.

All Ahsoka could deduce was that Maul seemed to have been pursuing historical information about long dead Force wielders. Specifically, Sith ones.

Qi’ra also explained how she had deposed Maul. Three years ago, she had given the Inquisitors his location on Dathomir while he was there, while at the same time warning the villagers that there might be a deadly battle sometime soon, giving them a very short window to evacuate. Most had fled. The Inquisitors had laid waste to what had been a tower built in the mountain, Maul’s headquarters, causing the entire structure to collapse into the ravine. They had never found a body, but it had seemed highly unlikely that Maul could have survived the man-made landslide of his home while he was inside the building. And Qi’ra, after three years of running Crimson Dawn and checking every lair and hideout that Maul had ever mentioned to her or that she had discovered by searching through the organization’s records, was still alive.

“But are you really sure he’s dead?” Ahsoka asked.

Qi’ra snorted. “No. Without seeing his corpse myself, I can never be totally sure.”

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll come after you?”

The woman fixed her with a pointed look. “Every day I wake up thinking it might be my last day of being free of that monster. Every night I wonder if I’ll wake up again. Yes, I’m terrified. But I’m used to it. Once you're part of Crimson Dawn, you can't leave. And even if I ran or hid, he would find me wherever I was. Running this organization is all I can do now.”

“You run Crimson Dawn’s operations the way Maul and—” Ahsoka paused, and then the name came to her, “Dryden Vos did?”

“More or less.” Noticing Ahsoka’s expression, Qi’ra then said, not hiding the accusation in her tone, “You’ve never been afraid of him, have you?”

“I—” Ahsoka took a second to think. Yes, there had been situations in which she feared Maul might harm or kill her. But no, with her training and the Force to rely upon, she had never felt completely and utterly powerless in his presence, which seemed closer to what Qi’ra was asking.

Before she could answer, Qi’ra said, “I thought not,” more than a trifle bitterly. “I suppose that’s why he—” She paused, frowned, then shook her head. “You think Lord Maul might be alive? Are you going to go looking for him?”

“No, I don’t think I will.” She had spent long enough away from the rebellion, and she had no interest in searching for a man who was either dead or, if he was alive, was not worth the time it would take to track down. “And trust me, I am _not_ in any way his friend or ally. I’m surprised he even told you about me.”

At that, Qi’ra grinned slightly, and some of the tension left her face. “That’s not quite what happened. He, er, mentioned you once. It was more of an accident. I followed up with my own research.” Her relief that Ahsoka would not go searching for her former boss was unmistakable.

As was her powerful curiosity towards the togruta, but Ahsoka was not inclined to indulge Crimson Dawn’s new leader too much. It was time to go, time to turn her attention to following up on other leads. In fact, there were some transmissions from Mustafar that had just come in that Ahsoka wanted to take a closer look at.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” Ahsoka said. “If you see Maul again, you can tell him I need to talk to him. That might buy you some time. Or, you know, the rebellion could use someone like you.”

Qi’ra’s expression turned wry. “I’ve heard something like that before. I don’t think that will work for me. But thank you too.”


	12. 3 BBY

“You okay riding with grandpa?”

“I’ll be fine,” Ahsoka reassured Kanan, giving Maul a piercing look.

Her hopes for an awkward but quiet ride up the temple wall were dashed when Maul, with Kanan and Ezra just barely out of earshot, said with a sneer, “So…what was that about never joining forces with me?”

“Don’t make me throw you off the lift,” Ahsoka said without looking at him, arms crossed.

“You need me, Lady Tano.”

“Hm, I’ll admit you do make a good diversion for the Inquisitors.” If he was going to invoke callbacks to their earliest conversations, well, she could play at that game too.

“Ha. Yes, you would know something about me being very _diverting_ , wouldn’t you?” Her face twitched, and her hands tightened on her upper arms, but she forced herself to keep her eyes away from Maul and instead on the skies above them, in search of any flashes of the Inquisitors’ red blades.

She heard the scrape of stone as the elevator began to descend. The zabrak sighed, then said, switching to a more cajoling tone, “ _We_ make a good _team_ against the Inquisitors. We could make a great team against the Sith too. You and I…well, the four of us.”

Finally, Ahsoka turned to give Maul a half exasperated, half pitying look. “This again?”

His returning gaze was cool. “Why not? You told me long ago, you would help me defeat Sidious. Skywalker is no more. That obstacle need not concern you any longer. Why are you so opposed to working with me now?”

Her mouth tightened as they both stepped onto the lift. As Maul pressed a hand against the temple wall, Ahsoka answered, switching her gaze back to their surroundings, “You called yourself ‘formerly Darth’. But you cling to your—” she paused for a second, then said, “attachments—” she could practically feel Maul’s eyes flickering in anger, “and your hate and anger, your all-consuming desire for revenge, just like a Sith. I don’t know what game you’re playing, Maul. But you can count me out of it. And Kanan and Ezra too.”

She heard him scoff. “We will see about that. You think you’re so noble then, Lady Tano? Using anything or anyone as your own tool when it suits you? Fleeing when you become _too_ attached, or concerned that too much prolonged exposure will taint you? _I_ call that pure cowardice and hypocrisy. Befitting any true Jedi.”

Incensed, Ahsoka turned back to glare at Maul straight in the face, which he met with his own baleful look.

“That is not—”

But before she could respond in full, they heard a shout, and saw one of the Inquisitors bringing his weapon with spinning blades closer and closer to Ezra, and the thread of their conversation was lost forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me while banging on Dave Filoni’s window: Mr. Cowboy Hat Man, what happened during Ahsoka and Maul’s Malachor elevator ride??? I must know!!!  
> Filoni: ma’am how did you get my address 
> 
> \---
> 
> If you’ve made it all the way here, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the ride!


End file.
